Back to Hogwarts
by War292004
Summary: A fanfiction based on Order of the Phoenix, three Americans get the chance to attend Hogwarts and soon find themselves caught up in the mystery and intrigue that is Hogwarts and the magical world.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER… thing…: While I spent my entire summer (and quite a bit of Fall and Winter… and spring…) writing this story, there is something that I acknowledge so I'm not sued. Many of the things below are taken from (_some things are **word-for-word**_) from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Hogwarts, Harry Potter, the spells, Quidditch, and all other things that don't appear in normal English belong to HER. SHE created them, not me, and we must all bow down and praise HER for all HER wonderfulness. And I pray she doesn't mind that I took her ideas for my own book. Keeping that in mind, please enjoy the rest of the story.

**Authors Note: When I wrote this two years ago, I didn't bother to put this into chapters. So I'm going to upload it in 20-page segments. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm not about to go through and divide them into chapters. Good luck reading this. Obviously, this precedes Return to Hogwarts, and the character change from Caitlin to Steffen was due to a minor fall-out… and yeah… enjoy!**

_**Back To Hogwarts**_

Matt Warren, Emily Davis, and Caitlin Murphy weren't just any other teens in a run-by-idiots junior high, which was now currently housed in the middle school due to renovations to the schools in the district. No, these 3 teens were special. In fact, they were so special, they got a letter one day. The letter itself was special enough because only the 3 of them got it, but it was more special because it was delivered by owls.

"Hurry up, Matt," sighed Emily as she stood next to Matt's locker, after he'd begged her to walk to Algebra with him. Caitlin Murphy, shorter than Emily and Matt, was also there. Matt was rummaging in his locker, looking for his Algebra stuff.

Matt, a 15 year old teen with brown hair, pale skin, green eyes, and thick-lensed, small-framed glasses, was one of the weirdest people you'll ever meet. He had many strange obsessions, and at the time, his biggest were the Titanic, plane crashes, and Skies of Arcadia, a game he'd gotten over a year ago. Even though he was strange, and had strange hobbies, he still had managed to make quite a few friends, Emily and Caitlin being a two of them.

Emily, shorter than Matt by a few inches, had elbow-length blonde hair, usually an insane look on her face, and, like Matt, was a bit on the weird side. She was a horse-riding, Lord of the Rings-reading, spastic time-bomb. While she had a short temper, setting it off could have very sad consequences for the victim.

Caitlin was shorter than Emily. Her shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair twirled around her head as she walked. She, like Matt, wore glasses, although not as big or thick as Matt's. She poked Matt to make him get a move on. Caitlin, like Emily, rode horses and was also a little on the weird side, however, she had a much longer temper than Emily and didn't explode as badly when it was pushed.

Matt finally tore his book out of his locker. He'd ripped the entire answer index out, and he glanced at Emily, who pointed and laughed. Matt, however, shoved the papers back inside the book, slammed his locker and locked it, and headed towards the staircase. The bell had already rang, and, unfortunately for Matt and Emily, their teacher, Mrs. Shanner, was in a bad mood. Caitlin walked past to her next class while Matt and Emily entered the room. The rest off the class turned to look at them, but then went back to work.

"You need to try to get here sooner," the old lady behind the desk said, looking at Emily and Matt.

"My locker jammed again," Matt said.

"Someone super-glued it again?" someone said.

Matt rolled his eyes and shook his head. A week previous, someone had decided to superglue the lock to his locker shut. He'd found out who it was, but nothing severe was done.

In their seats in the back, Matt and Emily tuned out. They looked out the window, hoping for an escape. It was a cold day, cloudy, with a chance of rain (or possibly snow it seemed). The clouds themselves were white, and the wind was blowing. Matt shook his head a little and forced himself to stare back at Mrs. Shanner as she tried to explain a complex algebraic expression.

Emily didn't bother. She'd learned early on she didn't like Mrs. Shanner, and she didn't plan to start now. Her Lord of the Rings book was out on her desk and opened instead of her Algebra notes. She didn't care, either. Having not done a piece of homework in a month, Emily figured she'd already blown it this year, why try to repair it? Besides, she'd just found out the whole final was multiple choice! Why bother doing work?

The rest of 3rd period dragged on. Fourth wasn't much better, and the lunch/study hall was a nightmare as usual. The cafeteria was really cold, and the L. G. I. (the fancy term for Auditorium used by the staff) was really hot. The two lunch periods, screwed up enough, were even more disrupted when someone poked a hole into one of the milk cartons, and the lunch ladies had to clean it up.

7th period was the next, and final, class Matt and Emily had together (the only class Matt had with Caitlin was 2nd period Spanish, while Emily had French). They were, once again, watching Romeo and Juliet. The whole class basically thought they'd ruined the play because of all the analyzing and interpreting they did. Matt and Emily, once again, were in their own worlds. What they didn't realize was that their own worlds were suddenly going to come true to some extent.

Finally 8th period came. Emily left Matt to head to Creative Writing. Matt had no real idea where Caitlin was for 8th period, and Matt had Science with Ms. Duncan (the one Emily and Caitlin called a neo-nazi because she stomped everywhere she walked). Today, she was in a bad mood, and she had over 100 tests to grade. She basically turned the class loose with the warning to stay quiet or else.

The class grouped up. Matt didn't feel like sitting with the jocks (who were starting their daily punching war again), or the preps, (with one of whom Matt and recently considered a friend only to be proven wrong), or the other guys in his class. So, he sat by the open window. Ms. Duncan's room, like the L. G. I., was very warm. The cool breeze felt nice. Matt, who was already tired, began to doze right away. The next thing he remembered, he saw some dots in the sky. They got bigger. Matt, with only one eye open, thought it must be a plane. But it was getting too close for that. Then Matt realized it: they were owls!

He jumped so bad that he smashed his head off the window. Forgetting about the pain momentarily (while the rest of the class turned to see what had happened), Matt watched the owls fly closer and closer. There was no doubt about it, they were too close.

Then, they ran into the screen. The largest shook himself, grabbed the screen with his talons, and tore it off. The others followed him in, where he dropped the screen on Matt's desk. With it, he dropped a letter. Then it flew away. The other 2 owls flew out the door and out the school, to find their other addressees.

Matt, however, had looked at the envelope. He couldn't help but stare. It was addressed to him (Matthew R. Warren, Room 201 (Ms. Duncan), S. R. U. School, East Smithfield), and it seemed genuine. Matt tore it open. Below it read:

_Dear Mr. Warren,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.** This may come as a shock to you as you are 15 years of age and most students are 11 when they are accepted. However, the Headmaster feels you can catch up rather easily, he has great faith in your abilities. Below are the course books that will be required of you, along with a 2nd list of supplies that you may bring._

Wide-eyed, Matt looked at the additional form.

_Book List for 5th Year Students:_

_Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_

_1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi_

_The Dark Arts, A Guide to Self-Protection_

_Intermediate Transfiguration_

_100 Drafts and Potions_

_A History of Magic_

_Unfogging the Future_

_Dueler's Hand guide_

_Defense Theory (_William Slinkhard Edition)

_You are also required to take the following Extra Courses this year:_

_Divination_

_Care of Magical Creatures_

_Flying and Quidditch_

There was more parchment, and Matt quickly read that, too.

_Students will also require:_

_Set of Brass Scales_

_Size 2 Pewter Cauldron_

_Telescope_

_Wand_

_Students may also bring a CAT or OWL or TOAD if they so wish._

_As 5th Year Students, you may also bring your own broomstick for Quidditch Tryouts._

_The last form enclosed is your Hogsmeade Permission form. Please have it signed and returned ASAP._

With a white face and pale demeanor, Matt dropped the letter and stared straight ahead. He was barely aware that the rest of the class was trying to group around him and read the letter he'd received. The other 2 owls had flown back through the room and out the broken window. There was a stunned silence. Then everyone starting buzzing again, talking in whispers about stuff, and Matt just sat their, gazing stupidly at his envelope.

Caitlin had been in the hallway at the time. The owl had flown up to her and dropped off one of the letters. Hers was basically the same thing as Matt's, with the exception of her name. She leaned against a locker, mouth open, her books on the floor around her.

"I'm going to Hogwarts," she muttered.

Emily, who was in Creative Writing at the time, was writing a story about Lord of the Rings. Ironically, there were normally 6 people, and all other 5 were absent. Emily's owl swooped in, shocked her and her teacher, and flew out. Even though she had a pretty good idea what was written on her letter, she tore it open and read it. Her whole face lit up. An insane grin cracked across her face. She, too, was going to Hogwarts. And she would never have to attend Athens again.

When class finally ended, it seemed the whole school instantly knew about it. Many kids edged carefully around the 3 teens who had been accepted. Others talked about them behind their backs. Even more asked them if it was true. The 3 teens, with either a grin or a look of venom, said it was. The only one who wasn't excited about it, it seemed, was Mr. Kelley, the principal. He drug the 3 off to his office and demanded they fix the window. With genuine shrugs, about how to do so, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin cackled with glee when Mr. Kelley dismissed them. Never again would they attend Athens, or see that idiot principal again!

The summer passed too slowly for them, in their opinions. None went to any camps, none did any extra-curricular activities. Instead, they begged their parents to let them go to Hogwarts. Emily and Caitlin's parents agreed rather quickly, but Matt's took some persuading. It took much reassuring from all 3 before Matt was given permission, even though his mother was still doubtful about sending him all the way to England.

It also took a long time to get to the only place they knew to buy things: Diagon Alley. They knew, of course, how to get there, but they had to get to London first. Matt's father arranged this, and since he worked at the airport, he managed to convince the airlines to give reduced ticket prices to all of the teens. After a few trips on the Underground, a trip through the streets, and into the Leaky Cauldron (which shocked everyone), they went to the brick wall. None had a wand, so they felt rather foolish until a passing witch finally opened it for them.

The narrow pathway with shops lining it was crowded with people. Emily, Caitlin, and Matt were overcome with emotion. All summer, they had thought it was a joke, but apparently it wasn't. So, with the money their parents had given them, they worked their way through people to Gringotts, where they opened accounts (which took quite a while because they had started with a goblin who spoke only Spanish, and Matt and Caitlin had only taken one year of it). But, they had enough money to buy quite a bit of stuff. Figuring they might as well get the books first, they walked out.

The only bookstore they knew of was Florish and Blott's, which was close to the bank. No matter where they went, it seemed there were a 100 witches and wizards crammed into it. It took over an hour to get all the books they needed, along with parchment and quills and ink, and then it took another ½ our to check out, especially when a malfunctioning wand set all of Matt's parchment on fire.

Then it was off to the Cauldron shop. They almost made it out of that one unscathed, but Caitlin tripped over her flip-flops and knocked a stack of cauldrons over. This wouldn't have been so bad… if they weren't Standard Size 9, some of the largest ones you can buy. The only good thing was that it cleared out the shop quite a bit, and the owner, a nice, plump witch, didn't make them pay any damages, but only asked that they help her pick up.

Finally, they headed to a shop that had other bits and bobs that they needed. There they bought the scales, telescopes, and other instruments they needed. They saw a really neat model of the universe, which was close to 60 Galleons. Even though their overly-generous parents had given them enough for nearly 5 terms, they figured they'd wait to see what they had left.

Next, the most crowded shop of all (and one that smelled really bad), the Apothecary. Consulting the potions list, they started to get each item individually when Emily found a shelf that had them ready-made, depending on your year. So, ironically, they got out of there the quickest. And, the only place they needed to head next was Ollivander's.

For some reason, this was the only deserted shop so far. Inside the dark, dusty shop, there was a small, wooden chair that looked ready to fall apart, shelves upon shelves of long, narrow boxes, and, most out of place, a bright flower vase with a bunch of roses in it. Mr. Ollivander seemed to appear silently behind them, and they jumped when his tape measure started measuring them. Supposedly, he had a head cold because he didn't talk much.

Finally, the measuring was done. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin stood there stupidly, not knowing what to do. Mr. Ollivander handed Caitlin a wand. She took it out. It was a pinkish and whitish color. With extreme distaste, she waved it around. Nothing happened, so it was shoved back into the box and onto the shelf. He hadn't even said what it was. Caitlin tried a few more cutesy-looking wands, and, finally, she was given a dark wand with a darker handle. She waved it, and flowers appeared.

"Willow and Maple handle, 12 inches, Unicorn Mane… probably one of your friends if you enjoy Potions, which is rather ironic…" Mr. Ollivander said hoarsely.

Emily was next. He tried to give her a few cutesy wands, too, but when he handed her one that WAS pink, she gave frightened/revolted look, and didn't even pick it up. With a small smile, he picked out a wand that was much like Caitlin's, except longer.

"Black Maple with Yew handle. 14 inches. Phoenix Claw. Give it a wave," he said, then coughed.

Right away, Emily knew it was hers. She waved it and a bit of fire shot out of it, singeing some of Matt's parchment again. She grinned, and looked to Mr. Ollivander, who smiled and looked at it, nodded, and then turned to Matt… who wasn't there.

Matt had walked off, to try and find his own wand. He was close to the back, where he wasn't allowed, and was looking at one on the 3rd shelf. Mr. Ollivander was suddenly next to him, Matt jumped, and Mr. Ollivander pulled it down, gave the wand to Matt, who waved it and it sent out Blue sparks, which turned into bubbles that soared around the room.

"Mahogany and Maple handle," Mr. Ollivander said, as hoarsely as ever, "Phoenix Feather Tail. Ironically, this phoenix burst into flames right after I took his feather. 13 inches. Enjoy. Total is 25 Galleons."

Finally, they had all their supplies. And, they had a generous amount of money left. So, they headed for the pet store, to get their animals.

The room was dark and it stunk really badly. Not quite as bad as the Apothecary, but it was close. There were many, many animals around. Cats, rats, dogs, mice, turtles, rabbits, and even a monkey were moving all around the gigantic, 2 story store. They each went their own way. Matt headed for a cage of hummingbirds, Emily was going towards the desk where she saw a small, what appeared to be a golden eagle, while Caitlin went to the top floor to see small raven.

"Yeah?" the witch behind the counter asked as Emily approached.

"Is that a golden eagle?" Emily asked, pointing to the bird.

The witch laughed sourly, "Yep. A midget one, actually. No idea why he's so small though. He's also very violent. I don't even try and hold him anymore, he tries to tear your windpipe out."

"I'll take him. How much?" Emily said.

"Hey, girl, you don't want him, seriously," the witch said.

"I said, how much?" Emily said again.

"30 galleons, but since you're gonna end up dying, I'll sell it to you for 15."

"Deal," Emily said, paying her. The eagle gave Emily a disdainful look as she was fitted with a glove and shoulder pad. Emily returned the look. She knew she could beat this eagle out and turn it friendly, even if it killed her.

Matt, however, was watching the hummingbirds in the cage. Sure, they were small, but they were also probably very intelligent, and strong, and loyal! He thought, just as one smacked off the side of the cage and fell, dazed, to the floor. The hummingbird was a teal color, with a white stomach. He seemed to be a bit hyper, though, and he probably did this all the time as the other birds didn't even take notice.

"I want this one," Matt told a passing salesperson.

"8 galleons, 4 sickles, 3 knuts," the main said preoccupied. He was wrestling with a large snake that has probably been returned by someone.

Matt picked the unconscious bird up and held in his hand. It wasn't bigger than his palm, and he seemed like he needed something to help him. So, Matt walked away, bird in hand.

Caitlin has found a smaller raven sitting on a pedestal. It sat stone-still. At first, she thought it was stuffed, but further examination showed her it wasn't. Its dark eyes cast a look of disdain at her, and she knew right away that if she bought it, she'd have problems with it.

"Come with me," she said, holding her arm out.

The bird, ironically, flew onto her arm and cut her with his sharp talons. It seemed to grin as Caitlin smacked it across the beak. The bird, stunned, did nothing. He wasn't used to that kind of treatment from anyone. Caitlin wasn't going to let the bird get the better of her. She would make it obey her if it took all year.

They finally managed to leave the pet shop, birds on shoulders (Cyclone was in Matt's pocket). Emily decided to name hers Red Wing because her horse back home was named Red Wind. Caitlin, as of now, called hers Raven until she could think of a better name for him. With all their supplies and a bit of money left, they headed into the Quality Quidditch Supply shop near the entrance. It was getting late, and Diagon Alley was slowly getting less crowded. However, many teens their age, who all probably attended Hogwarts, were in the store trying to check out the gear.

Nothing was cheap. While 2 of the walls had broom models on them, they were all close to 50 galleons (the most expensive ones around 300), the other 2 walls had various Quidditch robes and armor. The robes were 20 galleons, which was a lot considering they were just robes. And the complete set of armor (shoulder, chest, writs and arm, knee and below), cost close to 35 galleons.

Shelves around the room had the different Quidditch balls, in different sizes. They had regulation Quaffles the size of soccer balls, then they had some a little bigger than a softball for younger wizards. The Bludgers bounced off a large, clear-metal "wardrobe" in the left corner, and these were also different sizes. Golden Snitches were, of course, all the same size and were located in boxes on another shelf. There were "board" games of Quidditch, models of Quidditch fields and teams ("Pit your own Quidditch Team Against the pro's!"), and all sorts of other Quidditch memorabilia.

They checked their bags with the money they had. In total, their parents had spent close to 900 Galleons between them (close to 1000 dollars between the 3 of them in real life), and they had only a mere 123 galleons between them. Not even enough for a good broom for them. They walked past the Nimbus and Firebolt series of brooms, and looked at the Comet brooms. They were not that expensive, nor were they stylish. If it came to that, they thought, they'd buy some. However, before they decided to do that, they spotted something on another stand.

A broom that came in no less than 12 colors. Everything from 3 shades of brown to the colors of the rainbow (also comes in variations, the sign read), along with Pink, Black, and White. "The Scarlet Falcon," it was called. Matt had actually heard of a broom by that name on the internet. So, of course, he wanted to buy one. Each one cost 35 Galleons, and they had just enough. When the overworked, stressed-to-tears manager finally came over, they chose the ones they wanted.

Emily chose a dark brown one, and the only reason she did that was so it looked dark but wouldn't get mixed up with Caitlin's black model. Matt chose a blue one. The reason?

"When I play Quidditch," he said, "I'll be the one who stands out!" he replied.

Cyclone, however, chose that time to wake up. Confused about being stuck in the pocket, he freaked out. She shot out, flew around, and ran into the stand with snitches. He bounced off and fell to the floor, dazed. Then the hundreds of boxes of snitches fell on top of him, a few bursting open and allowing them to fly around.

With no apparent thoughts of why they did it, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin mounted and kicked off. They knew how to fly from reading about it in one of the books they read at Florish and Blotts, and they also knew that Snitches weren't easy to catch. However, that was an understatement. They darted around quicker than anything they'd every seen. Not only that, but it is hard to catch one when everyone, including 2 large birds and a hummingbird, is darting around the store in panic, trying to get out. Red Wing and Raven didn't like the snitches and kept trying to catch and eat them. Cyclone tried to avoid them, and almost opened the crate to the Bludgers, but Matt intervened and stuck Cyclone back into his pocket.

It took until closing time, but all the Snitches, except one, were caught and back in their boxes. They had no idea where it was and supposed it flew out the door when the other customers had escaped. Matt offered to pay for it, but the manager seemed rather happy that there were no customers to shoo away, so he said not to worry about it. He even threw in a Quaffle for thanks.

Finally, they realized they had stupidly forgotten to get robes. So it was over to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and they got fitted for robes. This took until 8 o clock and they all wished they could leave. Then they realized they couldn't pay, until Caitlin took out 30 more galleons to pay for all the robes.

"You were holding out on us!?" Emily cried.

"Well… I knew I was forgetting something, and it's a good thing I listened to my premonition," Caitlin grinned.

Their flight home was awkward. They didn't take any of their stuff with them. Instead. they decided to send it via Owl/Raven/Red Wing/Cyclone (he carried the Bertie Bott's Beans) post. It would get there 2 days later than them, but that was okay.

2 days later, however, they had to leave again. The poor animals had just returned from England and now they had to fly again. The hardest part would be getting things onto the plane back to England. Their first guess was to try the birds again (who gave them such ferocious looks that it scared all of them). The robes, books, and possibly the Quaffle wouldn't be a problem. However, the wands, cauldrons, and brooms definitely would. With all the security measures, they figured they couldn't do it, that it would be impossible to get past airport security. They had no idea what to do… until they got a letter from Hogwarts again. They were swimming at Matt's when the letters arrived by owls again.

_Dear Mr. Warren/Ms. Davis/Ms. Murphy_

_We understand that you are unable to transport all school necessities to England due to restrictions on muggle travel. We have sent pack owls out that are used to large loads. Give them whatever you can't carry on the plane. We look forward to having you with us soon._

_Sincerely_

_Albus Dumbledore_

True to his word, the biggest owls they'd ever seen arrived the next day. Even though none could identify them, they trusted them to get their packages to safety. Cyclone would have to go with Matt, while Red Wing and Raven would just fly along with the owls (which were much larger than them) to England. The hard part was getting Cyclone on the plane out of Elmira. That was solved relatively easily though. Since Elmira was a small airport and they had to board the planes by walking outside the terminal, Matt instructed Cyclone to wait on top of the control tower and then join him when he walked out. Cyclone seemed to nod, and flew off while the other checked in.

Finally the announcement came.

"Thank you for waiting. USAir flight 5287 for Pittsburgh now boarding at Gate 3," the lady said over the PA system.

It was a beautiful, sunny morning. The 3 teens exchanged final good-byes with their families, and took their carry-on bags (which were full of miscellaneous books about the wizarding world) and prepared for the flight. They walked onto the tarmac and Matt looked for Cyclone. The Dash 8 in front of them was slowly filling with people. Matt turned to look to the control tower. His father was an Air Traffic Controller at Elmira, and he happened to be working this flight. He waved to Matt who grinned and waved back. On top of the building, on the rotating light, he could just barely make out the form of his hummingbird, apparently riding the spinning strobe light out of sheer pleasure.

"Cyclone!" Matt cried, making an elderly couple getting on the plane stop and look around.

Cyclone heard the call and spotted Matt. He flew off and attempted to fly to Matt. However, he was so dizzy that he smacked into the side of the plane instead. A flight attendant stared as he slowly slid to the undercarriage and fell to the tarmac.

"Sorry," muttered Matt as he picked up the unconscious bird and shoved him into his bag.

"…. um… sir…?" she asked.

"He'll be out for this trip, I promise," Matt said, "He is my pet hummingbird and he's been like this forever. I'm taking him to a special doctor in England to see if she can help him before he dies."

"Oh… I see," she said, and everyone knew she didn't believe a word of it.

The flight to Pittsburgh took little over 45 minutes, and then it was time to board a United Airlines plane that was bound for London. Despite the fact they got lost in the Terminal, they found their flight with 15 minutes to spare. But they were hungry, so they ended up going to a nearby McDonalds before their flight was called.

The flight arrived at close to 8. There were a few delays that caused the flight to be stopped for a while. However, they made it in time to get to their hotel room. Their birds were waiting in their hotel rooms, and their trunks were packed. There was just enough space for their books. None of them could sleep that night as they got ready for a grand adventure in the next morning.

The next morning, they took a bus to King's Cross Station. The scariest part, though, was the fact they managed to get to the divider between Platforms 9 and 10 without getting lost. Now they just needed to get through the barrier without being seen by Muggles. They leaned against it and fell through. They landed on the platform beyond, where the Hogwarts Express was. The steam billowed and the whistle blew. However, it was only 10:30, so they had ½ hour to get on. Even so, they rushed to stow their trunks (which Matt had a hard time carrying), and find an empty compartment.

Emily and Matt immediately immersed themselves in books, the owls went for a cat-nap, and Cyclone had knocked himself unconscious again. Caitlin watched as people said goodbye to their families, noting a giant family of red-heads and a black and brown haired couple. She, however, ended up opening a book to read.

The train finally left. Cyclone woke up, but went to sleep between the mini raven and mini eagle. Matt took no notice, mainly because he was so stuck inside a book called "Transfiguration Disasters." Emily glanced up a moment as the train moved, but went back to, "Potions, the Art of Brewing," a moment later. Caitlin was also momentarily interrupted by the sudden jolt, but she, too, returned to her book on Magical Creatures, and was particularly stuck on a page of Hippogriffs.

A few minutes later, the door slid open. All 3 looked up and the birds woke up to see another teen standing in their doorway. He had robes of yellow on, and they realized he was a Hufflepuff. He was as tall as Matt, but had darker skin and dark, dark brown hair. He was obviously of Spanish origin, and when he spoke with a Spanish accent, they knew it to be true.

"Hola. There any room in here? The other compartments are pretty much full," he said. A snowy owl was perched on his shoulder, and she flew up and landed next to Red Wing.

"Um… sure, why not," Matt said, putting his book away.

"Gracias. I'm Mateo Martine, by the way. That's my owl, Maria," he said, taking a seat next to Matt. They had gotten one of the compartments where there were only 4 seats, which were all occupied now.

"Matt Warren," Matt said, shaking his hand.

"Emily," said Emily, not bothering to look up from her book.

"Caitlin Murphy," Caitlin said, looking up momentarily and then turning back to the picture of the Hippogriff.

"Hey, Matt, you wanna play Exploding Snap?" asked Mateo, withdrawing a slightly-singed box of cards from his bag.

"Sure, why not?" Matt said.

The Exploding Snap game lasted for close to an hour. The games were mainly blackjack and solitaire, but the only difference was that the cards blew up randomly and singed whoever was holding them. The burns disappeared after a few minutes though, unless you had the whole deck in your hand. Mateo showed them a scar on his left palm from when he held 3 decks at one time for a dare.

"My hand was on fire!" he exclaimed, making them laugh.

After that, they moved on to a form of Uno and then Hearts. None of them really liked Hearts or Uno, but it was fun to see who would get scorched next. The Hearts game, where Matt ended up winning when the lot blew up in Caitlin's hand, lasted until 1. Finally, the trolley came and they ordered all the treats they could. Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizbees (which they let Mateo take), and tons of Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer. They spent the rest of the trip enjoying the sweets they'd gotten, especially the beans.

Emily had only tried a few. Mainly because she got dirt, grass, vomit, ear wax, blood (which she liked), and gasoline.

Caitlin got every type of salad dressing imaginable when she ate hers, but then she became interested in the Chocolate Frogs and began to eat them at an incredibly fast rate. She collected so many cards that she and Mateo were able to trade a few and give a ton of extras to Emily and Matt. Emily didn't care for the Beans anymore and she ate only a few frogs. She instead opened up to the Drooble's blowing gum. Some bubbles wouldn't pop, others popped with weird sounds. Still others popped with such ferocity that all were blown back against their seats and Cyclone was blown out the window. Matt spent the entire afternoon eating every single bean in 3 of the large boxes, getting innumerable flavors.

Later, it got much darker. They were slowly getting to Hogwarts. Mateo finally announced, "Time to clean up." and he made a move to get rid of the wrappers.

"Evanesco," Caitlin said, waving her wand. All the wrappers disappeared. Matt, Emily, and Mateo stared at Caitlin who looked profoundly confused.

Finally, however, the train pulled to a stop. The door opened, and all the students disembarked. Matt, Caitlin, and Emily were suddenly struck with confusion. Which way should they go? Boats or Horse-thing-drawn Carriages?

In the end, after debating with each other and Mateo, they decided to use the boats. Mateo found a couple Hufflepuff friends, promised to meet them later, and went to the carriages. The others, feeling foolish again, walked towards the boats with the youngest kids. All the midgets, as Emily called them, kept casting frightened looks at them. Matt was also nervous, but Emily and Caitlin showed no outwards signs of nervousness.

"1st Years, this way!" called a woman from over near the end of the train. She was stooped over a little bit and used a cane to walk.

"I wonder who that is…" muttered Emily as she followed the woman.

They walked down a slope and to the boats. The boats were so small that Matt, Emily, and Caitlin filled one up with barely any room to spare. When everyone was settled, they started to move. Off they were across the giant lake.

"Heads down!" came the cry of the woman again.

They all ducked down so the tree branches wouldn't hit them.

"Here's Hogwarts," the woman said again.

Many gasps rose up. 3 of them from the teens that sat in the front boat. There it was. Hogwarts. Perched on a hilltop that overlooked the lake, it's many turrets and towers, including a giant one right in the center. Lawns and fields sloped down from it. Stone stairs made it possible to climb them. All the children in the boats were awestruck by it.

All too soon, however, the boats landed on the far shore. Everyone got off and followed the lady up the slope to the castle. It was difficult at first, but it got much easier when they reached the stairs that allowed climbing to be possible. When they reached the top of the stairs, they walked on a narrow, concrete path and into the Entrance Hall. The hall itself was enormous. Matt had a feeling that he could fit his house in there with no problem. They heard laughter and talking coming from a room with large doors, but they were ushered into a small chamber next to it.

Everyone fidgeted when they were in the room. They also gave a wide berth to the 15 year olds. They had a back corner to themselves while the little 11 year olds whispered to those they'd befriended and talked to one another about what was to come. Matt was actually starting to shake, which made Emily and Caitlin roll their eyes. They were hardly nervous.

"Get a grip, Matt," Emily said suddenly.

A lot of the 1st years looked at them and the room became silent. They all registered one thought: They're American. Some looked curiously at them. Others gave them looks of disdain. And others just dismissed them without another thought. Then the doors opened and a tall, dark-hair-in-a-bun lady walked in. She had spectacles that took up ½ her face, and she had a roll of parchment in her hand.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "In a few moments, you will pass through these doors and into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your house, either Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. While at Hogwarts, your house will be your family. You must all work together to get house points, while rule-breaking will lose you house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points gets awarded the House Cup. Any questions?"

No one had any. Who would?

"Right then. Follow me please," the woman said, turning and leading the students away.

All of the 1st years and the Americans slowly walked through the door. They could only fit 2 by 2 down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, so Emily and Caitlin walked together, while Matt was stuck next to a jumpy first year girl with black, straight hair. As they walked down, they saw Mateo out of the corner of his eye. He gave them an encouraging smile and mouthed, "Good Luck." They somehow arrived at the front of the room rather quickly.

Many of the 1st years got a good look around the hall. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin became so emerged in the beauty of it all that everything else was tuned out. If they weren't looking at the ceiling of the Great Hall, they were looking cautiously at the hundreds of floating candles, or perhaps the other house tables and the beautiful golden plates and goblets along them. They even chanced glances at the other students, decked out in either black and red, black and blue, black and green, or black and yellow robes. They also looked back to the ceiling again, still not believing it to be real.

Suddenly, everyone was clapping. The hat on the stool in front of them had apparently sung a song, because it was bowing. A little too late, the Americans clapped, even though they hadn't noticed it singing. Suddenly, their headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood up and everyone was instantly silent.

"Before the Sorting begins," he said, "I would like to acknowledge the first of Hogwarts' new, and hopefully successful, Foreign Exchange Program. Joining us at Hogwarts are 3 students from America, and they will be staying with us the rest of term and, hopefully, for the rest of their schooling careers.

The Americans froze. Ironically, however, many students and teachers applauded politely. Even so, Matt looked like he would just rather the floor swallowed him up, and Emily and Caitlin seemed a little embarrassed at all the attention. Finally, it seemed, the lady, who they now knew was Professor McGonagall, opened the list.

"When I call your name, please come forth and place the Sorting Hat on your head. When you are sorted, please sit at the correct table. Euan Abercrombie."

A small, terrified-looking boy stumbled forward. The hat fell over his face, concealing him for a moment. Then, the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" and he managed to go join the table in red.

"Yolanda Barry," said Professor McGonagall.

A young, blonde girl, with a look of no concern on her face, walked haughtily forward.

She sat down, legs crossed, and placed the Sorting hat on her head.

"Slytherin," it cried quite soon after. Yolanda strutted off to the green table.

"Mary Burns," was the next name.

A redhead who looked utterly faint, walked forward. She sat under the hat for so long that some people thought she actually had fainted.

"Hufflepuff!" it finally yelled. Matt watched her walk over to the yellow table, where

Mateo shook her hand in welcoming.

"Reginald Connor," said Professor McGonagall.

A tall, black boy walked forward. The hat was only on his head for about a second when he was also made Hufflepuff.

"Timothy Cott," said Professor McGonagall, looking around.

Another black boy, slightly taller than Reggie, walked forward. He was made the first Ravenclaw, and he took a seat at the table of blue.

"Maria Darnell."

A Spanish-looking girl walked forward and placed the hat on her head. It took only a few moments before, "Gryffindor" as proclaimed.

"Emily Davis," Professor McGonagall said.

Emily walked through the crowd of First Years to the Sorting Hat. She put it on her head.

"Hmm… a headstrong young girl you are. Yes, very much so. Short temper, too. Not the one to go all out on homework, are you? And yet you're fiercely loyal to friends. GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

Emily walked over and took a seat across from Maria.

The list went on. It seemed to take forever, but it finally got to the M's.

"Polly McCarthy," came Professor McGonagall's voice.

A red-head, more than likely of Irish descent, walked forward. The hat literally covered her head. But, it didn't take that long to make its choice. "Hufflepuff!" it cried.

"Daniel Milton."

A boy with a lot of muscles walked forward. He had a hard face and Matt could tell he wouldn't be one to mess with.

"Slytherin!" the hat proclaimed.

"Natasha Molnar."

"Gryffindor!"

"Caitlin Murphy," said Professor McGonagall.

Caitlin was taller than the 1st years, but, being shorter than Matt and Emily, it took her slightly more time to work her way through the line to the front of the room. She placed the hat on her head.

"Another headstrong American I see," the hat said, but not with disdain, "You shall do well in… SLYTHERIN!"

Caitlin walked over to where the table was decked in green and sat down with the other first years. A few tried to talk to her, but she ignored them. She continued to watch the Sorting, even though the number of students was only ½. It seemed all the students were being pretty evenly sorted, too. Ravenclaw, however, seemed to be getting the least.

Now the long run between the N's and the W's came. When the last V (Lorenzo VanNess) was made a Gryffindor, and they got to the W's, there were only 5 people left to be sorted. Matt, the girl he'd walked next to up the line, and 2 other boys and another girl. Matt was ready, though, and he knew he'd probably be the first.

"Arnold Wade," said Professor McGonagall.

A boy with lots of pimples on his face walked forward. He looked back only for a moment, and disappeared under the hat. Moments later, he was declared a "Gryffindor!"

Matt knew it was coming, so when Professor McGonagall said, "Matthew Warren," he was ready. He put the hat on his head and waited.

"I see. Friendly, a certain amount of bravery, perhaps not the most competitive, but fair to everyone. I also see a great mind and a great imagination. I think you'd be best suited in… RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled.

Matt stood up and walked over to the blue table. After a quick greeting, everyone's attention was focused back on the 3 people still left.

"Robert Wells,"

"Slytherin!" the hat cried.

"Rachel Younger," was the 2nd to last name called.

The girl with dark hair that had walked next to Matt walked forward. She looked nervous, but determined all the same not to mess up. The hat took about a minute to decide, one of the longest, but finally, it said, "RAVENCLAW!"

Rachel made her way over to the table and sat next to Matt who smiled at her. At least he'd have one friend in here, even though he'd only walked down an aisle with her, he knew he could trust her.

The last person to be Sorted, Rose Zeller, was made a Hufflepuff, and it was finally over. Matt then realized how hungry he was, but he had so many thoughts in his head he barely heard what was happening, but jumped when the plates in front of him appeared with much food.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Emily had traded spots with 2 first years and was now sitting next to a pair of red-headed twins, who introduced themselves as the Weasely Twins. She instantly took a liking when she was offered a chance to make money by testing Class-skipping sweets. She needed money AND a way to get out of class. When the food appeared, she put as much on her plate as she could. Then most conversation around her died as people ate.

Caitlin was sitting at the Slytherin table, surrounded by first years. She didn't want to talk to any of them, but she wasn't bored because of the fact she didn't have anyone to talk to. She was still taking in the splendor of the castle and had fun watching all the different students eat, chat, and, at her table, hiss at each other with insults. She had a feeling this would be a fun year.

When the food had finally disappeared, Dumbledore got to his feat again. 

"Well, now that we are digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students… although a few of our older students ought to know this by now, too.

"Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you that all magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have 2 changes in staff for this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

This was followed by the normal, polite applause that followed the introduction of someone that nobody cares about. Dumbledore continued.

"Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the-"

But Dumbledore stopped talking. His attention, as many of the other teachers' attentions, were focused on a short, squat woman near the center. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin all had the same impression of her. Her wide, slack, flabby face, the pink cardigan she wore, her mousy hair, and the black bow perched in it… she was a toad. She cleared her throat. Matt and Rachel exchanged glances, while Emily and Caitlin raised their eyebrows. Why did she stop the Headmaster in his speech?

"Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome," she said in a high, girlish voice. Matt felt the hairs on his neck stand up, Caitlin was completely taken aback, and Emily actually shuddered when she talked.

"Hem hem… Well, it's lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

The only irony to this statement was NO ONE was giving her a happy face. They were either repulsed or confused.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends."

The silence of the hall was suddenly interrupted by a loudly-whispered comment.

"Michael Jackson's gone female…" it said. Nearly all the Muggle born students, especially Matt, Caitlin, and Emily, giggled and snorted at this. Matt and Caitlin both knew it was Emily that did it, but none of the teachers seemed to notice, or care, what was said.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts…"

That was about as far as Emily, Matt, and Caitlin heard. Matt started playing a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Rachel, Emily had opened her Lord of the Rings book, and Caitlin had just disappeared back to her own world. It seemed to take forever for her to finish.

"…preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down and was done. Suddenly, Dumbledore was clapping. He was basically the only one that did, and even though a few students tried to clap, Dumbledore was already speaking.

"As I was saying. Quidditch Tryouts will be held during this week and next week at the following dates. All times at 5 O clock. Wednesday, Slytherin: Beaters. Thursday, Hufflepuff : Seeker. Tomorrow, Ravenclaw : Chasers. Tomorrow. Friday, Gryffindor : Keeper. Well… that about wraps it up. I think you're all ready for bed now as many of you seem asleep already, so good night."

The students finally were dismissed, but there was quite a bit of confusion as everyone tried to get out at once. Finally, a tiny Professor directed traffic by letting Ravenclaw out, the Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Matt, Rachel, and the other first years were following a Ravenclaw prefect. Emily was stuck behind 2 other Gryffindor prefects, but she and Matt waved to Caitlin who was walking amidst the other Slytherins. Matt walked next to Emily and Rachel until they reached to the stairs. Ravenclaws went one way while Gryffindors went the other. Matt waved to Emily and then they were heading out.

Emily pushed her way to the front to walk near the 2 prefects to see what they were talking about. They didn't notice her.

"I don't like the Umbridge woman. And what do you mean, 'interfering at Hogwarts?'" the red-head said.

"They're going to control every possible thing they can," the brown haired girl said.

"That's weird… I wonder why," Ron said.

"Probably to be assholes, just like the American government," Emily muttered.

The 2 prefects jumped. They hadn't realized they'd been eavesdropped.

"Sorry… didn't mean to scare you," Emily said.

"Wait.. Aren't you one of those Americans?" the guy asked.

"Yeah…" said Emily, with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, honestly Ron. I'm Hermione Granger. That's Ron Weasley," the brown haired girl said, glancing back every now and then so she didn't walk off the staircase.

"Emily Davis," Emily replied, "And yeah, they try to interfere with us for everything. Heck, they even tax our INCOME. How stupid is that?"

"Wow… that's pathetic. Is your country that broke?" Hermione asked.

"Not if we can afford atomic bombs that we don't even use," Emily said sourly.

"What's an… at tomic bomb?" Ron asked.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Hermione said, making a few of the 1st years give off nervous laughs.

"Ha ha, Hermione," Ron said sourly.

They had arrived, finally, at the portrait of a Fat Lady.

"Password?" she asked tiredly.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia," Hermione said briskly, and led the group in.

The common room, Emily decided, was very awesome. There were close to a hundred Armchairs in the large room, and a roaring fire was in the grate.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," Hermione said, apparently searching for the right words to say,

"Um… your stuff has been brought to your dormitories already, and… the girl's dorms are up those stairs… boys up those… and… um…" she nudged Ron.

"Oh… right, don't lose us any house points 'cuz we want to win again this year. And keep a watch out for Professor Snape, he's pure evil," Ron said, but Hermione rolled her eyes. Emily decided she'd heard enough and went to her dorm.

Inside, she saw there were 4 4-poster beds. She, luckily, had the one closest to the windows and furthest from the others. They were a pretty, red-satin colored. They had hangings she could draw around for privacy, as she knew she would want it when she saw 2 of her roommates. There was a dark-skinned and dark-haired one who was giggling to a girl with brown hair. They were the Hogwart's version of "Preps" Emily decided. She'd have nothing to do with them if she could help it.

"Hey, aren't you one of those Americans?" the brown-haired one asked.

"Yep," said Emily.

"That's awesome!" said the dark-skinned girl, but she almost instantly went back to giggling with the other about something else. With a sigh, Emily turned to her bed. True to what Hermione said, her things were all there. She spent the next 10 minutes rearranging everything however. Then she realized Red Wing was gone. Probably off hunting, she though. Sure enough, Red Wing appeared at her window with a dead rabbit in its beak. The other 2 girls were somewhat revolted, but Emily smiled and stroked him.


	2. Chapter 2

She put her robes in her trunk and withdrew her pajamas. She hoped into bed and was about to close the hangings when Hermione came in.

"Did you hear about Potter? He's crazy. Do you believe what he said about You-Know-Who?" the brown hair girl asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to think Dumbledore's losing it, or that Harry's insane. But…

I just don't know," the other replied.

"I think they've both lost it. Dumbledore through old age and Harry has always been a little weird…"

"Shut your big fat mouth about Harry, Lavender," Hermione said to the brown-haired girl.

Lavender looked taken aback, Parvati was speechless. Without a word, both disappeared behind their hangings and went to sleep. Hermione also didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, so Emily let her put her things away and sleep without talking. A cat was curled at the foot of Hermione's bed. It eyed Red Wing at first, but Red Wing glared at it and the cat, with a face that looked like it had smashed into a wall, bustled off.

Emily herself didn't go to sleep. Once again, she was too excited to be here. It hadn't seemed real, but now it was. And tomorrow would begin their first lesson. Emily was particularly looking forward to Potions, even though she heard the teacher, Snape, is horrible towards Gryffindors. The downside was Divination. She didn't like the sound of it, even though she didn't know what it was about. And her biggest fear was not being ready, having missed the first 4 years of Hogwarts. She was sure she could do it, though. And with that comforting thought, she went to sleep.

Caitlin had been with the same group of Slytherin girls for over 10 minutes as they walked to their common room. They were giggling evilly every few minutes, but Caitlin ignored them. She was lost in thought about her classes. Like Emily, she was looking particularly forward to Potions, and, like Emily, she was worried about not being able to catch up. Finally, they arrived at a stone wall where Slytherins were filing through.

"What's the password?" one asked.

"Pure-Blood again," another said, "We've had that one at least 6 times before that I've been here…"

Caitlin knew she'd have no problem memorizing that one. She walked into the room. It was a little chilly down here, and it was green and gray. A large Slytherin banner hung down from the high ceiling, 3 fireplaces glowed with green flames while a few Slytherin students occupied the sofas and chairs. Caitlin headed straight for her dorm, up the main staircase and into the left corridor.

Up the stairs she walked, until she came to a hallway. Each one had the rooms branching off. She looked for the one that said 5th Years, and went inside. There were 5 other 4-posters with green hangings this time. Caitlin's was under a very high window. The other girls stopped talking as she walked in and they eyed her carefully as she made her way over to her bed, and unpacked her stuff.

"You're American, aren't you?" one asked.

"Yeah," Caitlin said, stiffly, as she put a picture of her horse, Tucker, on the nightstand. Instantly, one of the taller girls seized it.

"What's this? Your mother?" she joked.

"Give that back," Caitlin said, jumping to get it but missing as the other girls howled with laughter.

Suddenly, Raven the mini raven flew in through the window and landed on the girl's shoulder. It bit her finger and she screamed. The picture fell into Caitlin's hands while Raven landed on Caitlin's shoulder, giving the girl a disdainful look.

"Thanks, Raven," Caitlin said, making to stroke it, but Raven flew to the top of the 4-poster.

"So. You have a raven, eh?" another girl asked, "They're hard to train. My great aunt had one before she died. She had a ton of scratches, too. Of course, hers was full sized."

For some reason, they seemed to have some respect for Caitlin.

"I'm Jo Hammet," said the girl who was talking. She had red hair and pale skin, which made her seem Irish, "And these," she indicated the girls, "Are Millicent Bulstrode (the one who held Tucker's picture out of her reach), Pansy Parkinson, Ashley Gowin, and Josephine Vincent. We're your roommates I guess."

"No, really?" Caitlin said, which made Jo smile wider. She liked this girl from the start.

"Sorry about being a jerk," Millicent said in her low voice, "Just checkin to see if you were Slytherin material or not. Apparently you are."

"Right," Caitlin said, wanting to sleep.

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed," Pansy said, "G'night."

"G'night," the other said. Each went to their own beds and fell asleep. Caitlin stared at the canopy of her bed. She was worried about her classes again, and wondering if she could keep up. Before she could clearly think of everything, she fell asleep.

Matt followed the Ravenclaw 1st years to the West Tower. He was talking to Rachel as he walked. It turns out she was a Muggle Born, too, and she and Matt had a lot in common. She learned where Matt was from and stuff. He was shocked to learn that she also played Skies of Arcadia and liked to read about Titanic. He could already see a friendship building with her. Pity she was a few years younger than he.

They finally reached a painting of 8 or so men sitting at a large table. It wasn't the "Last Supper," but it was a well-done painting. The password, it transpired, was "Mahogany." It must've been that many of Ravenclaw's passwords were from trees or something.

Inside, a warm fire cracked and cackled by the many blue sofas and armchairs around the room. Also, there were shelves upon shelves of books. Across the high ceiling, a banner of Ravenclaw shown. Matt instantly fell in love with this room. He loved it here. He bade Rachel goodnight and went into his own dorm. Down the corridor and up the stairs that were behind the door, Matt found the dorm. Inside, there were 6 4-posters. There were also 5 other boys. Ironically, all were blonde (except for one) and all seemed to be built like "Jocks" although Matt hated to use stereotypical terms, but he felt he must.

"Hey," one said, shaking hands with him. The others quickly shook his hand and said

"Hey," too.

"Hi," Matt said, "The name's Matt."

"Terry Boot," one said.

"Blaine Carson," the one next to him said.

"Nathaniel Smith," said the only brown-haired boy.

"Jack Hacker," another one said, even though he had an Irish accent.

"Dakota Casper," the other said.

Matt acknowledged them as they introduced themselves. Then he turned to his bed and quickly unpacked. The beds were arranged so that they formed a bit of a circle in the center. Matt had a shrewd suspicion they were for Wrestling matches, or for "talks." Either way, Matt didn't care. They also had little desk spaces in the corners, and another place for trunks.

"You ain't got no muscle," commented Jack as he climbed into the bed directly across the circle from Matt, "You should work out more." 

"Er… yeah…" Matt said, stacking a couple of books on top of his trunk.

"I bet you're a bit shocked to see such built guys in Ravenclaw, the book-reader's house, right?" Terry asked.

"Kinda," Matt admitted, grinning slightly.

"Most people are, actually," Blaine said. His bed was on Matt's right, Nate's was on his left. Both had already unpacked and were getting ready for bed, while Jack, Terry, and Dakota were already in bed.

"I don't see why," commented Dakota, "I mean, sure we do our homework a lot, but that doesn't mean we don't exercise and stuff. We're not that bad at Quidditch either. Since we came here, we've taken 2 2nd places and 3 3rd places. Hufflepuff has had one 3rd and the rest have been DEAD LAST."

Matt thought of Mateo really quickly. Hufflepuff probably didn't get a lot of fame.

"Anyways, did you see what Padama Patil was wearing today?" Jack said, grinning, "Man, I never realized how hot she was." 

"She's single," added Terry.

"Really? Hell, I might just 'get to know her' this year," said Jack, a mischievous look on his face.

"Jack's a bit of a pervert," Blaine whispered to Matt loudly so that everyone heard.

"Like you can talk, Blaine. You're the biggest pimp of all of us," Jack said, grinning wider.

However, Matt had gotten into bed and was trying to fall asleep. Cyclone hadn't woken up since he fell asleep on the train, and Matt didn't plan to wake him. The guys continued to talk about Padama, and a few other girls in his year (Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin, and Melody Moon), and one-by-one they fell asleep. Matt was terribly excited about the classes to be held tomorrow, and he prayed that it would come quickly.

The next morning, everyone in all the dorms got up and dressed quickly and silently. Many, especially the 1st years, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs were excited to get back to lessons. Others, mainly most of the Slytherins, would rather die. Into the Great Hall they went, to wait for the mail and to eat their breakfast. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin met at the bottom stairs. Mateo walked by soon after and greeted them.

"Congratulations," he beamed, "Now we're all in different houses, we can get all sorts of news on things that'll be happening."

"Er… great," Emily said, taken slightly aback. She didn't make friends quite as quickly as Matt did.

"So we have to sit at our house tables, then?" Caitlin asked.

"I suppose so," Mateo shrugged, "Only for meals, though."

"Sounds good. Good luck at lessons, guys," Matt said.

"Hey, look at this!" a Gryffindor 4th year shouted.

Everyone tried to get a good look at the big message posted to the door. It read:

_Attention Students: This year, Hogwarts is trying something new with its lesson plans. Class groups, made up of different houses by years, are going to be assigned to each student. This is to promote good-feelings and friendships between houses, hopefully by working together. This applies to all lessons except Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology, which will have both class groups in them at once. Thank you for your time. Please locate your group below to see which schedule you're supposed to get._

_Have a great year,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Matt and the others checked the list. There were 2 class groups for 5th years. It read:

_Group 2, 5th Years: Gryffindor - Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasely, Dean Thomas, Emily Davis_

_Hufflepuff- Mateo Martine, Hannah Abbot, Ernie MacMillan, Susan Bones_

_Ravenclaw- Matthew Warren, Blaine Carlson, Nathaniel Smith, Padama Patil, Melody Moon, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin_

_Slytherin- Caitlin Murphy, Jo Hammet, Ashley Gowin, Josephine Vincent, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe_

The other list, it seemed, had a ton of Hufflepuff and Slytherin, but only a few Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. So, they figured, he'd have to earn as many house points as he could if he wanted to win.

They split up into their house tables in the Great Hall. Matt sat over next to Blaine and the rest of his friends, Jo invited Caitlin to sit between her and Josephine, and Emily, somewhat reluctantly, took a seat next to the Weasely twins. The downside was that Lavender and Parvati were also next to her, giggling like mad again.

Course schedules were passed out. They took a look at their Week and blanched. It was quite possibly the worst Monday at least on record.

"Holy Hell…" Matt groaned at Ravenclaw.

"You gotta be kidding!" Caitlin said at the Slytherin table.

"Oh my God… this sucks," Emily said. She would've said a lot worse, but Snape happened to be walking by and she didn't feel like getting in trouble before breakfast.

The course schedule read:

Monday Tuesday

9 - 9:45: History of Magic 9 - 9:45: Charms

10 - 10:45: Potions 10 - 10:45: Charms

11 - 11:45: Potions 11 - 11:45: Transfiguration

12 - 1: Lunch 12 - 1: Lunch

1:15 - 2: Divination 1:15 - 2: COMC

2:15 - 3: DADA 2:15 - 3: COMC

3:15 - 4: DADA 3:15 - 4: Herbology

4:15 - 5: Free Period 4:15 - 5: Flying/Quidditch

Wednesday Thursday

9 - 9:45: Charms 9 - 9:45: Charms

10 - 10:45: History of Magic 10 - 10:45: Herbology

11 - 11:45: History of Magic 11 - 11:45: Herbology

12 - 1: Lunch 12 - 1: Lunch

1:15 - 2: Transfiguration 1:15 - 2: DADA

2:15 - 3: Transfiguration 2:15 - 3: Divination

3:15 - 4: Potions 3:15 - 4: Divination

4:15 - 5: Herbology 4:15 - 5: Free Period

12 M - 1:15: Astronomy

Friday

9 - 9:45: Divination

10 - 10:45: History of Magic

11 - 11:45: Transfiguration

12 - 1: Lunch

1:15 - 2: COMC

2:15 - 3: DADA

3:15 - 4: Potions

4:15 - 5: Free Period

Matt didn't like the looks of Monday. Caitlin didn't want to wake up on Thursday. And Emily didn't want to go Tuesday or Wednesday. The other days were fine, though. Even though they'd never attended the classes, they knew what was to come.

History of Magic was the first class. It seemed each house was reluctant to sit with the other, so Ravenclaw mainly took the front left corner, Gryffindor took the back right, Slytherin took the back left, and Hufflepuff took the front right. That left a spot in the middle for Matt, Emily, Caitlin, and Mateo to take their seats. Everyone was grumbling about this class, knowing what was to come. It was worse than they thought. As soon as Professor Binns floated through the chalkboard, he took attendance and began.

The subject of notes was about Giant Wars. Matt managed to take about 15 minutes worth of notes before his brain died. Caitlin managed 10 minutes before she fell asleep. Emily, once again, hadn't bothered and began to read Lord of the Rings. She was getting closer to finishing it than ever before. Many of the Slytherins were chatting, the Hufflepuffs were gazing at Binns with a lost expression on their face, Ravenclaws were occasionally taking notes, and Gryffindors were just fooling around… with the exception of Hermione.

Then, there was a noise. Matt felt Cyclone stir in his pocket, and he woke up. He shot out of Matt's pocket and started flying wildly around the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch the bird, except Binns. Cyclone seemed confused about where he was and started flying to everyone, bouncing off walls, books, and even people. The girls giggled, the boys laughed, and Professor Binns ploughed on with his notes. He didn't even notice when Cyclone flew right through him… but he did noticed when the hummingbird got even more confused and drove his beak through the notes he was reading. ½ the class gasped, the others tried to hide laughter. Professor Binns blinked and stared at the hummingbird, then picked him up by his tail feathers.

"Whose quill?" he said.

Matt, who had turned red, raised his hand. The rest of the class was barely stopping their laughter.

"Well… here you are then," said Professor Binns, "And please be more careful with your writing utensils Mr. Withers."

"Yes, sir," Matt said, raising an eyebrow when he got his name wrong. He stuffed Cyclone back into his pocket and sat down.

The class finally ended when Binns assigned 12 inches of parchment on Giant Wars. The class groaned and headed off. It was time for Potions, and the were joined by the rest of the year. Perhaps that's what it meant by "doesn't apply to the following classes." They were led into the room. Emily, by now, was terribly excited. Matt was terribly terrified. Caitlin was terribly confident. Emily couldn't wait for this class, Matt was terrified that he'd mess up, and Caitlin knew she was safe from getting in trouble in this class.

"Settle down," Snape said, even though the class had been silent, "Before we begin today's lesson, I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my… displeasure.

"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape continued, a trace of a grin on his face, "I take only the very best into my N.E.W.T. Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying good-bye."

At this point, he looked about some of the class, eyes narrowed, and he particularly stopped on the Americans, to which some of the class turned to look.

"But we have a year to go before that happy moment of farewell," Snape said softly, "so whether you are intending to attempt a N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students.

"Today, we'll be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and sooth agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients, you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay _close_ attention to what you are doing. The ingredients and method are on the blackboard. You will find everything you need in the store cupboard. You have half an hour. Start."

Matt stared at the directions and blanched. He figured they'd start with something easy, but not this. He would have to try his best, so he lit the fire under his cauldron, and retrieved the ingredients for himself, Emily, and Caitlin. Matt read the directions and tried to do exactly as it said, but when he had to make the potion simmer for 7 minutes, he lost count of the seconds when he sneezed, and he started over. When he figured it was time, he put the 2 drops of hellebore in, and the Potion turned red and it sent out a single bubble every couple of minutes.

Caitlin was doing her best. She wasn't worried about getting a bad grade in here, mainly because Snape favored Slytherin. So, she did hers almost perfectly. She got all the times right, the stirring, the ingredients, and managed to make the potion look okay. Hers was a silvery-black color, but nothing was coming out of it. Still, she thought, it's better than Matt's…

Emily knew right away what to do. She knew this would be her best class, she'd always been interested in Potion making. But, she didn't want to screw up, so she read the directions a few times before getting to work. The potion simmered and stirred, she turned down the flames at just the right moments, added the correct amount of ingredients, and, with 15 minutes to go, her potion was giving off a silvery vapor.

Snape came around a few minutes later, to check on everyone's work. His first stop was the American's table. He passed Emily's cauldron without a word, which meant he found nothing to criticize. In contrast, when he looked into Caitlin's cauldron without a word, it meant he found nothing to praise. When he saw Matt's however, he stared.

"Mr. Warren, how long did you let it simmer in the 3rd line of instructions?" Snape asked coldly, making a lot of people turn to look.

"Erm… I don't really know. I kinda lost count ½ way through… it might've been 10 minutes," Matt said, looking terrified at being cornered and then starting as a bubble rose and popped in his cauldron.

"This potion is utterly worthless. You might as well put it up on my desk now because there's no way to save it," Snape said, and walked away.

Feeling incredibly foolish, Matt walked to the desk with a flagon full and set it there. He knew he'd suck at Potion making, but he didn't think it'd be this bad.

"Evanesco," he muttered to his Potion, making most of it vanish, although he hadn't gotten all of it. He sat on his stool, head down, and waited for the class to end. Emily and Caitlin filled their flagons and put samples on Snape's desk, then tried to cheer him up.

"It was only your first try, who'd think that any of us can do anything on our first day?" Emily said bracingly.

"Well… yours was perfect," Matt said.

"Mine wasn't," Caitlin said.

About that time, the bell rang, so Matt had to stop his pity party to get ready for lunch. Before they left, however, Snape assigned them 12 inches of an essay on Moonstones and their properties. They walked up from the dungeons and took their seats at their house tables. Matt sat next to Rachel and took some of the food they'd put out.

"Had a good morning?" Rachel asked.

"Eh… my pet ripped up Binns' notes and I found out I suck at Potions," Matt shrugged.

"Yeah… Charms was fun, though. Even if we got an essay for homework already…" Rachel muttered.

"I have 2. 12 inches, the both of them," Matt said, laying his head on the table again.

"Wow… ours only need to be 4 inches," Rachel said, blinking.

"I have Umbridge and Trelawney this afternoon… shoot me…" muttered Matt.

"I don't have Umbridge until… Wednesday," Rachel said, quickly checking her list.

"Consider yourself lucky," Matt said, twisting the spaghetti around with his fork.

"I have to go work on my Charms essay, see you in the common room," Rachel said, finishing quickly and leaving.

Emily took a seat alone. At first. Then another guy, wearing as much black as he possibly could with his robes, took a seat across from Emily. He had black hair, but pale skin, which surprised Emily slightly. Normally black haired people were black or dark.

"I hate small children," he muttered, taking a few sausages.

"I know what you mean," Emily replied.

"I don't plan to have children," the boy said.

"Me neither," Emily said.

"Who're you?" he asked Emily, "I've seen you in the Common Room before."

"I'm Emily Davis," Emily replied, "And you?"

"Seth McGuire," Seth said, looking at Emily for the first time, no trace of a smile on his face.

"Ah…" said Emily, turning back to her food so she could finish. She and Seth didn't talk the rest of the lunch until Seth stood.

"Divination time," he said.

"Good luck," muttered Emily, and he walked away. Emily just sat there, finishing her lunch before she was hauled off to Divination.

Caitlin sat next to Jo and Josephine again. The other girls weren't back from whatever lesson they had. Jo and Josephine thought it was extremely funny that Harry Potter had been told off in Potions and how Matt's bird had annoyed Binns.

"I love Snape! He hates Gryffindor so much!" proclaimed Jo. They all looked at Snape, sitting at the Head Table. He was just eating his food like the other normal teachers, obviously reveling in the war that was continuing with Harry.

"He rocks. I hope he takes tons of points form them!" Josephine said.

"Yeah, and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," Caitlin added.

"Of course. He especially hates Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, but we're all okay with Ravenclaw. They're… well, they're not wisely and they're not overly do-the-right-thing," Jo said, trying to search for the right words.

"I get it," Caitlin said, eating her spaghetti, too.

"Divination's up next," groaned Josephine, checking her schedule.

"No… not Trelawney," moaned Caitlin.

"We better go now, or we'll never make it," Josephine said, stretching and standing.

"Right," said Caitlin. The Slytherins walked out and to North tower.

Matt, Emily, and Mateo walked through the halls together. They saw the Slytherins up ahead, and Caitlin fell back to walk with them. The other Slytherins made it to the top, and then the stairs changed. They shifted.

"Woah!" Matt cried, clinging to a banister. The others, too, shouted and clung to the banisters out of surprise.

"We'll meet you there, don't get lost!" Josephine teased Caitlin, and she and Jo walked off.

"Now what?" groaned Matt as they ended up on the wrong floor.

"Follow me," Mateo said, taking them forward, "You're not gonna like this… but here we go…"

They followed him up 2 more flights of stairs, then another. Matt forgot what floor they were on. However, they found a remote hallway with just a single picture in it. It was of a small knight on a pony. He turned when he saw them, and, at first, tried to kill them.

"Back! Back ye rouges!" he screamed, waving a sword that was bigger than him.

"Sir Cadogan, we need your help," Mateo said, but saying this seemed to be a big strain on him.

"Aha! Young Master Mateo! And who are these other mongrels?" roared the knight.

"Never you mind," Mateo said, "Take us to Trelawney's room without the North Central Staircase."

"Right then. TALLEY HO!" he cried and off he ran, his pony still sleeping. They chased after him, glancing at him through the portraits. It seemed to take forever, and a few students laughed as they ran by, chasing the knight. Up one flight of stairs, across a corridor, into a tapestry and almost running off a staircase, then it was back up another flight, around the tower, and up yet ANOTHER flight of stairs until they reached a spiral staircase.

"There we are. The quest is fulfilled. CHARGE!!!" he cried and ran off.

"… wow." was all Caitlin could manage.

"That was special," Emily agreed.

"Who was that guy?" Matt asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sir Cadogan. He's the nuttiest painting in this entire school. No one likes him, for obvious reasons, and everyone wishes Dumbledore would get rid of him. However, Dumbledore seems to think he'll be good for something," Mateo shrugged and led them up the spiral staircase and into the trapdoor. Nearly everyone had already assembled and there wasn't an area open for all of them to sit together.

Matt took a seat at a table with 3 other Ravenclaws (Blaine, Nate, and another pretty girl with hazel eyes and dark brown hair). Caitlin sat in the back with Josephine and Jo. Emily took a seat with the Gryffindors, her table consisting of Seth, and, to both Seth and Emily's displeasure, Neville Longbottom.

"Good day," came a misty, dreamy voice that made the Americans jump, "Welcome to and back to Divination. I have, of course, been following your fortunes most carefully over the holidays, and am delighted to see that you have all returned to Hogwarts safely… as, of course, I knew you would."

Matt, Emily, and Caitlin got a good look at Professor Trelawney for the first time. She, basically, looked like a bug. With really large glasses. And so much jewelry that she looked 3 times bigger than her usual self. Her room, to say the least, was stifling hot, and the fumes radiating from the fire made them all very sleepy, so it was hard to keep their eyes open, which was rather ironic thanks to what she said next.

"You will find on the tables before you a coy of _The Dream Oracle_ by Inigo Imago," Professor Trelawney continued, "Dream Interpretation is a most important means of diving the future and one that may very probably be tested in your O.W.L. Not, of course, that I believe examination passes or failures are of the remotest importance when it comes to the sacred art of divination. If you have the Seeing Eye, certificates and grades matter very little. However, the headmaster likes you to sit the examination, so…

"Turn please to the introduction and read what Imago has to say on the matter of dream interpretation. Then, divide into pairs. Use _The Dream Oracle_ to interpret each other's most recent dreams. Carry on."

With moans and groans, the class turned to the introduction. It was really hard to read it because of the fact it was 8 pages long in tiny print. Matt finished with about 20 minutes to spare, even though most of his classmates were still reading. The girl at his table, however, was also done. She smiled at Matt who felt himself turn hot.

"Hi," he whispered, "Wanna interpret my dreams… if you can figure them out?"

"Sure," she whispered, "Tell me about them."

"Okay…" Matt said, taking a deep breath for emphasis, which made the girl smile wider,

"It was a dream I had last night. I started at an airport and this guy came in, badly dressed, and he went out another door to the planes. I thought it was suspicious, and I somehow knew how the dream would end, but I didn't do anything about it. So, the plane itself took off for Tampa, and I went into the terminal itself. On radar, a lady was having trouble with the plane and it was like I could see on the plane, too. And it crash landed in my woods, and suddenly I was looking for it and I found it but the PAX were still trapped inside. So, I went back home and my mom gave me a spatula (they turn up a lot in my dreams) and headed out. I watched 2 of our outside cats run across the road and get flattened by a passing car, which scared me so much I woke up."

"Okay," the girl said, having followed all of it, "So… we add this… and then divide by that… add the subject… hmm… okay…" she was working really hard to actually do it. Matt would've bullshitted it the whole way.

"Aha!" she said finally, when others were still interpreting, "You are going to witness a tragic event, and be able to help. When you try, you will witness yet another tragic event and wake up… wait a second…"

Matt couldn't help but laugh, and his laughter brought Trelawney over to them.

"Let me see, dear," she said to the girl who showed Professor Trelawney her calculations.

"Hmm… very good except for this bit at the end. When you witness the 2nd tragedy," she said mysteriously, "You will be part of a 3rd. Never forget the one main rule in fortunes: things happen in 3's."

"That's what my Science teacher said last year," Matt recalled out loud.

"Yes, well, you try now," she said, handing the calculations to Matt to start on one of the dreams.

"Um… okay…" Matt muttered as the girl explained a short dream about a computer virus.

Emily and Seth listened to the Professor talk. When they were assigned to read, however, Emily shoved her Lord of the Rings book in between the pages of the Dream Oracle. Seth shoved a Stephen King-like book into his, and Emily couldn't help but look at it.

"You read books like that, too?" she asked quietly, coolly.

"Yeah. It's fun to see how people live and die without magic," he whispered back, still reading.

Emily nodded and returned to her book. She didn't look up until Seth muttered, "Wanna do some dreams?"

"Don't have any," Emily shrugged.

"Cool. Me neither," Seth said, and, once again, both returned to their books.

"Caitlin, look at this," Jo muttered, showing Caitlin a picture of a wizard in the _Oracle_.

The wizard in question was doing a Muggle water-skiing thing. They asked her what it was.

"Oh… water-skiing. It's a lot of fun," Caitlin said.

"How would you know?" Josephine asked, eyebrow raised to close to her black hair, "Are you Muggle born or something?"

"No," Caitlin said, also raising her eyebrow as though the thought was ludicrous.

"What's this?" Josephine demanded to a picture of a wizard on a plane.

"I have no idea," shrugged Caitlin, "A tombstone? Coffin? Flying pressurized metal can?"

"That's a good one," Jo said.

"A plane, dear," Josephine said, reading the caption, "Any wizard who dreams of flying, uneventfully, on a plane will suffer from chronic ear aches for the next 3 years. Witches will suffer unsightly hair in unexpected areas…"

The girls laughed at this.

"What dreams have you had?" Caitlin whispered again.

"I dreamed I was killing my brothers," Jo whispered.

"I dreamed I was eating some porridge," shrugged Josephine.

"I haven't had a dream in 3 years," Caitlin said, "None that I can remember, anyway."

"That's weird," Jo said.

Finally, the bell rang. The class knew it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Seth and Emily walked together; Matt, Blaine, Nate, and the other girl walked together; Caitlin, Jo, and Josephine walked together, and all arrived at Umbridge's room with minutes to spare. However, no one seemed intent on going in. Finally, Matt and the Ravenclaw girl went in and took seats 1 row from the back. The rest of the class filed in. Emily and Seth took seats in the back row (the others were taken up by Harry, Ron, and Hermione), the Slytherin girls sat 2 rows from the front.

"By the way, I'm Melody Moon," the girl, Melody, whispered to Matt.

"Matt Warren," he muttered.

"I wondered why you didn't have an accent like us," whispered Melody.

"Yeah, well… what do you think of Umbridge?" Matt asked suddenly.

Melody's face clouded, "I don't like her. She has done all sorts of horrible things to people, especially Professor Lupin, who you wouldn't know."

"Huh?" Matt said, "What did she do to him?"

"Passed some legislation that prevented him from getting a job," hissed Melody, giving Umbridge a filthy look.

The bell rang and Umbridge stood up.

"Good afternoon, class," she said in his high, prissy voice again.

Very few people said anything back, and those that did, they just muttered.

"Tut, tut," she said, speaking to them as thought they were kindergarteners, "_That_ won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class."

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," the class, except Seth and Emily, who weren't even paying attention, chanted. Matt's eye twitched.

"There, now," the toad-like woman said, "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away, quills out, please."

Moaning and groaning, they returned their wands to their bags and took out some quills, ink, and parchment (Matt's was still badly scorched). Professor Umbridge pointed her extremely short wand (only about 5 inches long), and tapped the board. It flashed:

_Defense Against the Dark Arts_

_A Return to the Basic Principles_

"Well, now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year.

"You will be pleased to know…" and once again, everyone tuned out, except Hermione. Matt and Melody began to play Hangman on a piece of paper, but it was Hang Umbridge this time. Seth and Emily kept right on reading. Caitlin put her head down and fell asleep. She was really tired today.

None of the Americans took any notice until they heard the word "_Lord Voldemort?"_

Melody jumped, which made Matt jump, the Slytherins turned around so hard that Caitlin jumped, and Seth stopped reading, which, for some reason, made Emily stop reading (it was as though their reading was their conversation.). Harry and Umbridge were now in a fierce shouting match, even though none had realized that the students had also been raging a small war against Umbridge.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said, "Now let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead-"

"He wasn't dead," Harry interrupted angrily, "But yeah, he's returned."

"Mr.-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-House-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," said Umbridge in one breath, then, "AS I was saying, you have been informed a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie_."

"It is NOT a lie," Harry shouted, "I saw him! I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter," Umbridge cried, happily, "Tomorrow evening, 5 o'clock, my office. I repeat, _this is a lie_. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page 5, 'Basics for Beginners.'"

But Harry stood up. Everyone heard Hermione whisper, "Harry, No!" But it was too late.

"So, according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord, did he?" Harry asked, his voice shaking.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident, "Umbridge replied, coldly.

"It was murder,' said Harry, "Voldemort killed him, and you know it."

Professor Umbridge's face was quite blank. For a second, everyone thought she would explode, but then, in a sweet, girlish voice, she said, "Come here, Mr. Potter, dear."

Harry knocked his chair over and walked slowly up to Umbridge's desk, where she gave him a note on a disgusting, pink scroll. She told Harry to do something with it, and Harry left.

"Get back to your reading, please," Umbridge said in her cheerful, girlish voice.

For the rest of the Double Period, everyone read. Whether it was Lord of the Rings, or actually trying to digest Slinkhard's book, they read. The shock of what just happened made everyone silent. Then, with about 2 minutes to go, Umbridge stood up in front of her desk.

"Your assignment is to answer the questions at the end of Chapter 1. Any questions?" she asked, and even though many hands went up, she said, "Good day, class. You may leave early." But the bell rang right after she spoke.

The first day was finally over, and they had a free period next. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin, however, met just outside the room.

"Who is this Voldemort person?" they whispered, in case Umbridge showed up.

"I think he's one of those people that is like America's most wanted…" muttered Matt.

"I think we should go see the Headmaster," muttered Emily.

"Right. Where is it?" asked Caitlin.

"This way. I followed a Ravenclaw prefect to it this morning, and I even know the password," he said, proudly.

"Whatever," shrugged Emily and she and Caitlin walked off.

They took a flight of stairs down to the next floor. Then it was down a long corridor until they reached a large, stone gargoyle.

"Fizzing Whizbee," Matt said.

The gargoyle sprung to life and moved aside to reveal spiraling stairs. They walked up the stairs and came to a large, oak door. With an apprehensive look, Matt knocked.

"Come in," came the voice of the Headmaster.

They walked in and took in the whole surroundings off the office. The portraits of past Headmasters and -mistresses, and many, spindly instruments on the desks, and, to their glee, a phoenix resting on Dumbledore's shoulder.

"Mr. Warren, and Ms. Davis and Murphy. Welcome. Are you enjoying your first day of Hogwarts?" Professor Dumbledore said kindly.

"Yes, sir, we are. I like how things are done here, with the lessons and all," he said, not adding that he hated Umbridge.

"Thank you, but sucking up won't get you any extra grades. I don't even teach a class," joked Professor Dumbledore.

"But, Professor," Caitlin pressed on, "We have a question to ask. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, we heard of a wizard named Voldemort rising from the dead or something. Is this true and who is he?"

Dumbledore's face clouded over slightly. His eyes averted for a moment but then he looked back, a somber expression on his face.

"If you don't want to tell us…" Emily began.

"No, no, it's better if you know. I'm just trying to find the right words to say it," Dumbledore said, "Okay…

"Over 20 years ago, a Dark Wizard named Voldemort emerged as the darkest wizard of the day. He mercilessly killed every wizard and witch that stood up to him, and tortured Muggles just for fun. Voldemort hated Muggles for no reason, and he planned to take over the world, much like those villains you muggles have come to know.

"Voldemort gathered followers and, slowly, he was starting to take over. Many people died. Anyone who stood up to him was tortured or killed. No one got the better of him. Until Halloween, 14 years ago. Voldemort attacked the Potter family, killing the parents, James and Lilly, and then trying to kill Harry, but it failed. Harry, somehow, deflected the curse and it hit Voldemort, driving him from his body. With nothing left, Voldemort fled.

However, he has returned to full strength and is now at large again."

Silence greeted this. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin couldn't imagine anyone who could be so evil. Even the murderers and rapists in America and around the world weren't that bad. Even the mafia wasn't as horrible as this guy. And he was back.

"Is there anything else you wanted to know? Maybe something more cheerful?" Dumbledore asked.

Something that had bothered Matt came to his head, "Why us? Why pick us for the Hogwarts Exchange Program thingy?"

"Ah… well, it's because you were ORIGIONALLY supposed to be enrolled in Salem Institute for Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, an error there ended up in them forgetting to send you an owl. We heard about it and couldn't let it rest. We knew that you would do fine. I believe, you, Emily are already doing very good with Potions? And Matt, Caitlin, you guys will find your specialties as time goes on. I know it's going to be hard because everyone else has had 4 years of schooling and you haven't, but I still have confidence in you."

"I see," Emily nodded, "Thank you for getting us out of Athens and into here."

"Yes, and in case your wondering, you have one of the most corrupt districts in the country. We might've saved you from something much bigger."

The door opened again and Professor McGonagall walked in with the pink paper

Umbridge gave Harry in her hand. She saw the Americans and said, "Sorry, I'll wait outside."

"No, Minerva, we're almost done. Anything else?" Dumbledore said, looking to the Americans.

"Nope, thank you Headmaster," Matt said, nodding.

They walked back down the stairs and out past the gargoyle. Their books and bags still in hand, they proceeded to the Great Hall. Dinner wasn't for another ½ hour, but a lot of people were doing their homework. When they looked back on it, they realized they had 2 essays, Umbridge's question thingy, and the Dream Diary. Well, at least they could do the Dream Dairy later, and Umbridge's homework was a last-priority deal, so they decided to do Snape's Essay first.

"Moonstones… well, in Arcadia, they power things," Matt said, looking at the blank parchment in front of him.

"When's this due?" Emily groaned.

"Thursday," Matt said, checking his schedule.

"Great. What about Binn's essay?" Caitlin asked.

"Friday. We have a double period on Thursday," Matt blanched, looking at the schedule again.

"Oh God…" moaned Emily.

"Library time," Matt said.

"After dinner. We have like 5 minutes," Emily said.

They split up from the Gryffindor table. Matt took a seat next to Melody and saved a spot for Rachel, Caitlin took her now-usual seat between Josephine and Jo. Emily waited for Seth and they began to read again. Finally, the food appeared on the tables in front of them and everyone began to eat and talk. The major topic: Umbridge V. Harry in the shouting match. The Slytherins laughed when they found out Potter had detention for a week and that he'd lost their house 10 points. After the first day, Ravenclaw was first, followed by Slytherin, Hufflepuff, then Gryffindor.

"Want to go work on Binn's essay after dinner?" Melody asked Matt.

"Well…" Matt glanced at Emily and Caitlin, but they seemed to be with other people,

"Sure, sounds like fun. I'm gonna need help on Snape's essay, though."

"Me, too," Melody said, and with a quick good-bye to Rachel they left the Great Hall, just behind Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Emily watched Matt and Melody go, and shook her head.

"So much for our plans," she muttered.

"Hmm?" Seth said from his book.

"I was gonna go work on our essays with Matt and Caitlin, but I guess that plan's out the window. Matt just walked out with Melody Moon."

"Let them go," Seth replied, "Come on, we'll go and work on the essays, too."

"Sounds good, because Caitlin and those Slytherins will probably work together anyway," Emily reasoned, so she followed Seth to the Library.

Caitlin watched both Emily and Matt leave. With their other friends. Shocked and feeling slightly betrayed, she turned back to her dinner of steak and potatoes. However, when she speared one with her fork, her roommates looked at her.

"What?" they asked at the same time.

"My 'friends' just cancelled our plans without telling me," Caitlin spat, "We were gonna go study together, but they just left with their new friends, apparently I'm not good enough for them anymore."


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't say that," Millicent scolded, "We're your real friends. Come on, we'll have a party in the Dorm, get all sorts of sweets and butterbeer and stuff."

"Yeah, it'll be a blast!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Okay, let's go," sighed Caitlin, still glaring out the doors as though she could still see Matt and Emily.

After dinner, Matt and Melody stayed in the Library for over 2 hours, looking up information on the First Great Giant War in A.D. 496. It was around the time Rome fell, and they were looking into a thought that the giants might be linked to that. However, after a ½ hour of unnecessary searching, nothing turned up. So, they went back to describing the fatalities around Sicily and near present-day Paris. The Giants, it seemed, were annoyed that some wizards had made it a sport of hunting Giants so the Giants were retaliating.

Matt figured Binns had explained this already, but even the well-read Ravenclaws hadn't been able to stay awake in his class. It was close to 8:30 before they finished their essays. Each was a couple of inches longer than Binns had said, but their writing wasn't tiny, like Hermione's. So, with a few minutes to go before they had to head back to the Common Room, they stretched a little and just talked.

"Are you trying out of Chaser tomorrow?" asked Melody.

"How many positions are there open?" Matt asked, cracking his neck.

"2, I believe. However, I'm sure one is guaranteed to go to Boyd Chambers, one of the

7th years," she continued, seeing Matt's confused look, "He's an excellent player. He was on the team last year but had to quit when his grades slipped big time. He did extra classes and that clashed with team practices… so… in other words, there's one spot open."

"Oh…" Matt said, "I have never played Quidditch or even flown before, actually. With the exception of this one time in Quality Quidditch Supplies," Matt said, and relayed the story of Cyclone and the Snitches to her. She was in stitches.

"Oh my…" she giggled, catching her breath, "Your bird is rather funny. It was him that tore up Binn's notes, correct?"

"Yep," Matt said, grinning again.

"I have an owl. Her name is Celestina. I think that's like the goddess of the moon or something, I'm not sure."

"We'll find out Wednesday when we have Astronomy," Matt glanced at his list.

"She is a cool teacher, Sinistra," Melody commented, "If you ask me, she favors Ravenclaw. She's our Head of House ever since Flitwick gave it up last year, and I know Sinistra was in Ravenclaw when she attended Hogwarts. She hates Slytherin, which is ironic because she likes Snape. She had a crush on him a few years back!" she suddenly burst into laughter, which brought Madam Pince over to shoo them out. It was closing time, anyway, so she and Matt left, while Melody told him an extremely funny tale of something that had happened during Valentine's day last year.

Emily and Seth had taken seats as far in the back as they could. They weren't worried about Binn's essay because he sometimes let them turn things in late. However, they knew Snape would take a ton of house points away if they turned theirs in late. And even though Emily knew Snape would never award her house points, or even like her, she was determined to stay on his good side, and prove that she could make potions as good as she had done earlier.

They split the work into 2 sections. While neither did too good on their homework alone, together they did an excellent job. Seth looked up the Moonstone's properties, while Emily checked how it was used in Potions. Then, they took and compared their notes on it and wrote essays based on it. They did their best not to make it look identical, but there were quite a few similarities. So, Emily did a bit more research on the Potions it was in so Seth could write down a few different ones and not be given a Zero for copying, or vice-versa.

With their essay done, they opened their books and began to read. For some reason, the more they read, side-by-side, the closer they got. Seth liked Emily for her personality and not her looks, Emily liked him for the same reasons. They both hated school, "preps," work, and Slytherin. They had similar interests in books, and they both knew "how the world really works." And even though Emily hardly ever made friends with anyone this quickly, this was an exception. However, at close to 8:45, Madam Pince came around and shooed them out. Sighing, wishing they didn't have to go to the Gryffindor Common Room where it was sure to be noisy, they picked up their books and walked out. Just ahead of them, they caught sight of Matt and Melody, talking together about a very funny thing that involved Snape and Sinistra.

Caitlin had a really fun evening. She didn't do an ounce of the homework she was assigned, but instead she and her friends spent the evening in their dorm. They ate almost every type of candy imaginable, and they took pictures of people they hated and threw darts at them. They also cursed them. One of them was Harry, and everyone cheered when Caitlin turned him into a cow with a lightning bolt spot on his back. Draco Malfoy even shook her hand!

The rest of the night was spent insulting teachers, especially McGonagall, Sinistra, Flitwick, and… well, basically every teacher except Snape. Dumbledore was also insulted, and everyone laughed when Pansy produced a few newspaper clippings of how Harry and Dumbledore were going down hill. The party lasted until 2 in the morning, when a Slytherin Prefect came in and shooed the boys out, telling the girls to quiet down or they'd get detention.

Caitlin climbed into her bed where Raven flew down and, for once, let Caitlin touch him. He didn't let her stroke him, though, and he flew out the window for another night's hunt. Caitlin's anger at her friends had evaporated. However, being with these new friends of hers showed her a new light. She didn't like Potter anymore, and she disliked a few of the other teaches more. Tomorrow, she figured, she'd make amends with her other friends and they'd be back to normal.

The next morning was Tuesday and it dawned rainy and sodden, just as the night had been. Matt was first to rise in his dorm, and was dressed and out the door just before the others woke up. He met Melody at the bottom of the stairs and they walked to the Great Hall together. Emily managed to escape her dorm before Hermione, Lavender, or Parvati were able to wake up. She met Seth in the Great Hall and took a seat next to him. Both were nearing the end of their books. Caitlin also was first to leave her dorm, although not first to rise. She entered the Great Hall, Raven on her shoulder, and looked around. Then, she went to Matt and Emily and asked to have a word with them. She led them outside the castle.

"What was with abandoning me?" she asked, before they could.

"Huh? Oh!" Emily suddenly had a realization, "Well, I saw Matt walk out with Melody… and… I figured that…"

"Matt, why did you leave me behind?" Caitlin turned to Matt, looking hurt and angry.

"I … well, I saw you guys with those other people and I thought you were making plans and Melody wanted to… you know… work with me and… I'm sorry," he finished feebly.

"I thought you and your friends were going to hang out… I'm really sorry," Emily said to Caitlin.

Caitlin nodded, "It's okay. Just tell me if you wanna cancel, though, because it kinda hurt to see you leave me like that."

"I'm really sorry, Mini," Matt said, looking sad.

"It's okay, but we better eat or we'll be late for lessons. Let's sit together today," she suggested and the other 2 nodded.

"We have our first Flying lesson today," reminded Matt.

"Aren't you trying out tonight?" Emily commented.

"I was gonna. You guys wanna come watch?"

"Sure, if the homework ain't too bad…" groaned Caitlin, remembering how much she still had to do.

"It won't be," Matt reassured her, "What have we got today, anyway?"

"Umm…" Emily checked her schedule, "Double Charms, Transfiguration, Lunch, Double COMC, Herbology, and then our Flying Lesson.

"Hmm… I take that back," Matt said, cracking his neck again.

"Come on," Caitlin said.

The rest of the day seemed to go by faster than the previous. In Charms, tiny Professor Flitwick talked about their O.W.L.s, and then set them to work on reviewing Summoning Charms.

"Remember, the incantation is 'Accio!' You try, please," he said, randomly pointing to Matt.

"Accio!" Matt said unsurely, pointing at a cushion. The cushion belly-flopped off the desk he was trying to summon it from.

"Hmm… well, how about you, Miss Murphy?" he pointed to Caitlin.

Caitlin stood up and looked at the cushion. She concentrated hard, cleared her throat, and said, clearly and forcefully, "ACCIO!"

The cushion flew off the desk and almost hit her in the stomach. She moved out of the way, and instead it hit Matt in the face, knocking him out of his chair. The class, including Matt, burst into laughter at this.

"Very good, 10 points to Slytherin," Professor Flitwick cheered, "The rest of you, please practice this for the rest of the class, I shall check on your progress at the end of it.

For the next hour, the class practiced the charm. Caitlin mastered it quickly, so she just watched. Raven pecked on the window, surprising Caitlin, and she let him on her shoulder. He, too, watched the others. Most of the class did fairly well, except for Matt, whose cushion only progressed to swan dives, and Neville who kept summoning heavier things, like chairs and desks. Emily managed to get hers to fly to her around the 20th try, so she, too, sat with Caitlin as the ones who hadn't managed it kept trying.

By the end of class, the only ones who hadn't managed it were Matt, Neville, Melody, and Mateo. The entire class was given an essay on the Summoning Charm to work on, but the other 4 were given the extra assignment to practice.

Transfiguration was another interesting class. Professor McGonagall didn't favor any house, but she did favor great minds. Matt was looking forward to this class since his letter arrived. Today, she told them about the importance of their O.W.L.'s, and then set them to work on a very difficult spell: The Vanishing Spell. This particular spell was very, very difficult, but not for Matt.

When Professor McGonagall handed him his snail, she asked to see a demonstration, mainly because he was whispering to Emily. He turned slightly white, and pointed his wand at the snail.

"Evanesco Snail!" he muttered quietly.

Almost the entire snail vanished. Only a trace of it's shell was left. McGonagall was speechless… for a moment.

"10 points to Ravenclaw. Excellent job, Mr. Warren. I'm sure, with a little practice, you shall be able to vanish much larger things."

Matt blushed from the praise as the rest of the class looked impressed… except for Hermione, who looked jealous. She managed a vanish on her 3rd try, which also earned her a 10 point bonus for Gryffindor, but she was beat by an American. Matt, like Caitlin in the last class, was able to sit and watch everyone practice the Vanishing Spell. By the end of class, only a few had actually completely vanished the snails, and the rest were given some practice on it, which was a relief. After a quick lunch, the entire 5th year headed down the grounds to the edge of the forest. Professor Grubbly-Plank was waiting for them.

"Everyone here?" she barked as soon as all the 5th years had arrived. It was a really large class, and the houses had once again split themselves into groups, with the exception of the Americans, "Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?"

There were a heap of sticks in front of her. Pansy Parkinson suddenly laughed, but shrieked when one of the twigs leapt into the air and revealed them all to be tiny, pixyish creatures made of wood, each with knobby brown arms and legs, 2 twig like fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, bark-like face in which beetle-brown eyes glittered.

"They're Bowtruckles," Hermione said, "Tree-guardians living in wand-trees."

"5 points to Gryffindor," Professor Grubbly-Plank said, and Emily grinned, "Yep, these are bow truckles, like Ms. Granger said, and they live in tress whose wood is wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice," Hermione prompted, "But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Another 5 points," Grubby-Plank said, "So whenever you need leaves or bark from a tree in which bow truckles live, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few wood lice and a bow truckle, I have enough for about 1 between 3, you can study them closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all the body parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

Emily went and got the bow truckle and wood lice. They took a spot near the forest itself, so the bow truckle would feel more at home. As it ate the wood lice, they did a sketch if it. Emily's was the best, properly labeled and everything, Caitlin's was okay, but not the best. Matt's was horrid, you could hardly tell what it was. Eventually, someone got cut when they held theirs too tight (which turned out to be Harry), and the class was over. They all walked towards Herbology in a large mass. They stopped outside the Greenhouses, waiting for them to empty.

Matt saw a girl emerge, speak to Harry for a moment, and flounce away with radishes hanging from her ears. Matt had seen her in the common room before, her name was Luna Lovegood, but everyone called her Loony Lovegood. Matt could see why, but didn't agree with it. Emily thought she was interesting, and Caitlin had no opinion. They entered the Greenhouse and took spots along the edge of large, potted plants on desks.

Professor Sprout, a dumpy little witch with fly-away hair started class by, once again, talking about the O.W.L.'s. Matt figured he'd go crazy if he heard about it one more time. The rest of the class was spent reading up on Self-Plants, which were plants that took care of themselves. Unfortunately, the chapter was a long one, and they had the homework of doing the questions at the end. Matt figured how much homework he had and decided to get to work on it right away.

The next period would have normally been a free one for 5th years, but Matt, Emily, and Caitlin had their first flying lesson. They ran to the Quidditch Pitch, where the lessons were being held, and opened their broom lockers with their passwords. The brooms came out. They took their Scarlet Falcons and walked onto the Pitch. The rest of the First Year students looked shocked to see the 5th years. Madam Hooch tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for everyone to get settled.

"Good afternoon, class." she said.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," they chanted back.

"Welcome to your first Flying Lesson. Step up to the left side of your broom, stick your right hand over it, and say 'Up!'"

The entire class moved to their brooms, and said "UP!" Matt's Emily's, and Caitlin's flew into their hands, but many of the first year's didn't. Only 6 of the brooms (one belonging to Rachel) shot to their hands. After 15 minutes of waiting, Madam Hooch finally showed them how to mount their brooms. Matt had to have his hands corrected, but other than that, the Americans did it perfectly. She told them to fly up a few feet, lean forward, and touch back down. They all did that perfectly, too.

By now, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin were bored. They knew how to do this, so they decided to have a bit of fun with it. They practiced landings and take-offs next. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin took off really hard when told to, and flew about 8 feet higher than anyone else. When they landed, they came in faster than the others and landed harder, taking more time to run to a stop. Finally, Madam Hooch said they were ready to actually fly. She told them to fly around the Quidditch Pitch once. She blew her whistle, and everyone took off. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin flew ahead on purpose. They didn't go top speed, as they would've been risking a lot of trouble if they had, but they were always ½ a lap ahead of the 1st years… except for Rachel.

Matt was trailing Emily and Caitlin on purpose. He didn't realize another student was slowly sneaking up behind him. Then, out of nowhere, Rachel was next to him, grinning. So, he sped up. She did, too. Even though she was riding a school's Comet 260, she managed to make it go fast. As the 1st years rounded the 1st set of goal hoops, the Americans, along with Rachel, had made it completely past them and were coming to the finish. They landed, and Madam Hooch smiled at them.

"10 points to each of you. You obviously know what you're doing. You'd all be good Quidditch players," she said.

"I can't wait to try-out tonight!" Matt couldn't help exclaim.

When all the students finally landed (Euan Abercrombie almost crashed into a goal hoop), Madam Hooch dismissed them. All the 1st years, except Rachel, put their brooms away. The Americans, however, were waiting for the others who were going to tryout. Matt checked his watch, and saw it was only 4:45. They still had 15 minutes. Emily went to her dorm really quickly, and came back with the Quaffle the manager had given them! The next 15 minutes were devoted to them practicing Chasing, then catching the Quaffle as it fell. 

They had guests a few minutes later. Cyclone had finally reappeared, having been in the Owlery the whole time. Red Wing, too, showed himself for the first time in days. Raven actually flew next to Caitlin as they flew around. Everyone laughed when Cyclone tried to block a Quaffle and instead got shot through the goal with it. Then, Matt saw Rodger Davies, the Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, along with 4 others wearing the blue Quidditch Robes, walk over. Behind them came 5 other people carrying brooms. Matt, Rachel, Emily, and Caitlin landed on the ground and watched them approach. When the rest entered the field, they were shocked to see people there already.

"Is that the school Quaffle?" Davies asked.

"No, brought this one at the QQS," Emily replied, kicking it into the stands. Then she,

Caitlin, and Rachel flew up to watch, leaving Matt alone. The entire Ravenclaw Quidditch team was all boys, except for the Seeker, and all were looking at him suspiciously. He was an unknown to all of them, and the weren't sure how good he was. Behind him stood the other 6 people to try out. Among them were 2 2nd year boys, a 6th year boy, a 4th year girl, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt for one reason or another, and no one could really identify her, Melody, and that 7th year Melody had mentioned. Boyd Chambers, he recalled.

The others watched from the top of the stands. Matt stood in line with the others to try out. They didn't like the looks of this. The rest of the team kept giving looks of disdain to the girls and to Matt. They knew who would get it right from the off: The 7th year guy. However, they hoped that Matt could pull it off…

The first to try-out was one of the 2nd year boys. He did terrible, perhaps out of nerves. He not only didn't make it to the hoops when he threw, he missed an easy pass, didn't manage to dodge a bludger, and he dropped the Quaffle when flying. The next to tryout was the 4th year girl. She did pretty good, too. She shot 4 times and made 2, but she handled the Quaffle exceptionally well, and dodged 2 bludgers. Then it was Melody's turn. She flew up and made all her goals, dodged all the bludgers, passed excellently, and did everything correctly. They thought she might actually have a shot.

Boyd went next. He did really well, too, except he had one fumble, and he just barely made one of his shots, but the rest was almost perfect. Then came the 6th Year boy. He did barely any better than the 2nd year boy. He dropped the Quaffle, got hit by a bludger, and only made 1 shot. But, however, it was finally Matt's turn.

Matt flew up, nervous beyond reproach. Then he saw his friends cheer for him and he felt better.

"Here we go," he muttered. When Davies threw the Quaffle up, he took off towards the goal post. Considering it was his first time playing, he did pretty good. He was commanded to pass, and he tossed a great one right into the arms of Melody, who was partnering him. She threw it back, but it was a little off. He managed to snag it, and took a shot. He made it perfectly, and the Keeper swore.

The 2nd rush, he was going forward and this time it was Boyd who tried to steal it from him. Matt managed to swerve around, and Boyd sailed past. The Keeper just barely failed to block the Quaffle that Matt fired in.

The 3rd heat, Matt soared ahead. Both of the Bludgers were aimed for him, and he did a Sloth Grip Roll, and still managed to hold on to the Quaffle. He flew down to the goal posts, and went for the right. The Keeper went right. Then Matt did an exceptional move where he leapt up, took the broom out from under him, and hit the Quaffle right into the Middle Hoop. Emily, Caitlin, and Rachel went crazy, and Melody and the other girl clapped politely, while one of the 2nd year boys whistled. In the last one, however, the Keeper knocked the Quaffle away, but just barely. Even so, they thought Matt and Melody had a good chance to make the team. Neither fumbled, they made close to, or all of their shots cleanly, and they were good at passing and catching.

That's why it was a major upset when Boyd and the 6th year boy were chosen. Although Matt clapped politely, he looked crushed. The 2nd Year boys left without a word, Melody looked ready to burst into tears, and the hooded sweatshirt girl removed her hood. To everyone's shock, it turned out to be Luna Lovegood! She gave Davies a filthy look and left. The rest of the team either looked smug, or, like the female Seeker, looked scandalized. Emily, Caitlin, and Rachel were shocked. They booed the new team members, shook fists and fingers at them, and Cyclone even flew down and started poking Davies in the face. Matt withdrew him and shoved him into his pocket. He and Melody waited for the others and left while the rest of the team celebrated.

"That was so unfair. You guys did much better than that 6th year bloke," Caitlin said, shaking with fury.

Melody had tears slowly pouring down her face, but said nothing. Matt wasn't crying, but he was severely disappointed. He thought he and Melody had done much better than that 6th year, and arguably better than Boyd, but he also figured they'd hate to be shown up by more than one girl and an American. It's a pity there was only one team per house… 7 out of nearly 200 people didn't seem fair at all.

It was time to get started on their homework. There was a ton of it. They hadn't bothered doing Umbridge's questions, so they finished the essays that they were supposed to have started Monday. When they were finished with the essays, they proceeded to the ones Sprout had assigned. By then, it was close to 9. They had to get back to their Common Rooms or risk detention. So, they bade each other good night and went off. Each was so emotionally tired, however, that they fell asleep quickly. They had a chunk of homework to do, still, and it wasn't going to get any brighter.

The next morning was just as wet as the previous two. The classes were long, and even though Caitlin did great in Charms, Matt excelled in Transfiguration, and Emily made another near-perfect potion, things weren't that fun. Having a Double History of Magic wasn't the greatest, either. Wednesday night was spent doing even more homework, to which they finally caught up on. Then, they went up to the Astronomy Tower for their first Astronomy Lesson with Professor Sinistra. To the Ravenclaws' disappointment, she was out sick for that week and instead Professor Vector, from Arithmancy, took the class. He was okay, but he tried to make it too interesting and it became boring again. At least he didn't give homework.

Thursday was as wet as ever. The rain was pouring, which wasn't enjoyable for the 5th years. They finally turned in the essay to Flitwick, to which he promised to grade. Double Herbology seemed to take forever as they studied the "Self-Doing" plants, and Defense Against the Dark Arts was unbearable as ever. Matt realized about 5 minutes before class he forgot to do the Assignment. Emily and Caitlin didn't care, and didn't mind in the least when she wrote down big, fat zeros for the both of them. As for Divination, well, she read from Matt's dream diary until it became to tedious for her and she chose Harry's instead.

Friday dragged on again. It was still wet, but it didn't rain anymore. The day had no double periods at all. Professor McGonagall collected their essays on the Evanesco spells, Binns returned their first Giant Wars Essays, Trelawney forced them to once again determine dreams, Grubbly-Plank marched on with the Bowtruckle lessons, and Umbridge assigned an essay on Chapter 1 of her horrid book to them all. The free period was spent, by many, doing that particular essay.

Inside the Library, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin sat alone.

"This could be a way in which to get back at her," Matt muttered, writing a particularly long essay. Emily and Caitlin were shocked. There's took up barely ¼ of a piece of parchment and Matt was on his second, "I'm employing my own ideas into this one," Matt grinned, writing something on how he disagreed.

"If I wasn't so lazy, I'd do that too," Emily sighed, setting down her quill.

"And besides, we have more essays to do and we have to look up the different ingredients

in that Strengthening Solution Snape gave us. As a review or something… pity we never did it," Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Matt took another 10 minutes to conclude his essay. Then, he rolled it up and put it into his bag. They looked at the homework they had for the weekend. McGonagall had assigned a few questions on some Transfiguration spells, Binns assigned another essay on the famous Giants in the First Great Giant War, Sprout made them do an essay on Self-Pruning Shrubs, and Trelawney wanted a summary of the dreams they've had all week.

They had ½ hour to lunch, so they decided to do the answers to the Transfiguration homework first. With Matt's help, they finished in time for dinner.

As it was Friday night, everyone was celebrating. Caitlin took her seat next to Josephine and Jo, and Raven made another appearance on her shoulder. Emily sat next to Seth again, and Seth nodded to her. Red Wing landed next to her, and began to eat her dinner. Matt allowed Cyclone to sit on the table if he promised to behave, which made Melody laugh. Rachel, too, had fallen in love with the bird, so when it did something funny or hurt itself around her, she'd be the first to try and help it.

"We've got a bit of homework for the weekend," Melody commented, eating her baked potato. She always ate one of those for some reason.

"I just have the essays for Sprout, Binns, and that thing for Snape. I've done McGonagall and Umbridge's assignments, and I think I'm going to conveniently forget my Divination," Matt decided.

"Wow, you must've been busy all afternoon!" she exclaimed, "I barely got my Transfiguration done."

"Well… that took us about 20 minutes," laughed Matt.

"That's always been my worst. I'll be lucky to get a P in that one," she said, looking at her plate.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Matt said, encouragingly.

"Thanks," she smiled.

Seth and Emily finally finished their books. They actually ate their food for once (Emily sharing her food with Red Wing.) Finally, Seth handed her the book he was reading. It turns out it WASN'T by Stephan King. It was Stefan Kart, a famous wizard writer who wrote about Muggles.

"Thanks," Emily said, and she handed him the Lord of the Rings book, "Read it, you'll like it."

"Kay," Seth said. Then he and Emily went back to their reading. Emily was liking him more and more, but Seth was liking her more than that.

Caitlin was in the middle of another war at the Slytherin table. This one was between Pansy and Millicent, who were both going at it. It was an argument, of all things, about which teacher was toughest. At least 3 fights had broken out at the table in the last week. Caitlin noted that no one else seemed to care, so it must be commonplace for fights to break out in Slytherin. When it was resolved, however, Millicent had a cut lip and Pansy had a black eye. But they were being friendly towards each other the rest of the night.

"Hey, let's have a sneak-away party. We'll go around the dungeons and stuff," Pansy whispered.

"That's a great idea," Jo grinned, "We could see if we find Snape wandering the corridors again."

"Or Filch," snickered Josephine, "I remember last year when Ashley went on to him, trying to get close with him. He turned so red that he lit up the dungeon!"

The girls shrieked with laughter. Caitlin laughed, but didn't shriek. She wanted to try this, but she didn't thinks he would tonight.

"You coming, Caitlin?" asked Jo.

"No, I got too much work," Caitlin said, sighing.

"Aw, screw school work. Be a rebel," Millicent said.

"I'm not feeling well, either," added Caitlin, "I think I got a cold from the way this weather's been."

"Oh… well, that's too bad. We'll make sure you come on the next one, though," Josephine said.

The rest of the meal consisted of them plotting their next moves against the teachers. Even though Ashley suggested they head a few floors up, Jo nixed that idea saying a different teacher would catch them and they'd be screwed.

Then Saturday arrived. It was a beautiful day, the first sunny one in a week. Everyone was outside, even Emily, Matt, and Caitlin. Caitlin was listening to her friends relay a story about what had happened last night, Emily and Seth were reading under a tree again, and Matt, Melody, and Rachel were flying around outside in the Pitch. They were playing Chaser with the Quaffle, and Rachel and Melody were doing awesome.

When lunch arrived, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin took seats at the Hufflepuff table with Mateo, whom they hadn't seen in a while. After lunch, they basically went back to the same stage as the morning. The only difference was that Harry and Ron showed up on the Pitch, so the 3 Ravenclaws left and flew over the lake for the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday dawned rainy again, so they spent all day doing homework in their common rooms. At lunch, they sat at their house tables again, returned to the Common Room to finish their homework, and then they explored Hogwarts for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

When Monday arrived again, they met in the Great Hall. The schedules were the same for the whole term, so they knew it was going to be a long day. However, there was a small surprise with them. Emily sat next to Hermione, who seemed to be waiting for the Daily Prophet. The Slytherins, Caitlin noted, seemed to be anticipating something, and when Matt sat between Melody and Rachel again, she had a dark look on her face.

"Read," she said, handing it to Matt.

"**Ministry Seeks Educational Reform. **

**Dolores Umbridge Appointed First-Ever 'High Inquisitor'"**

Matt's eyes narrowed as he read the story. When the mail arrived, Emily listened to it while Hermione read it out loud. Her jaw dropped and when Seth arrived, she explained it to him. Caitlin listened to her friends talk about it, and she was appalled, but her friends where happy, so she didn't show it. But she and Jo exchanged disgusted looks.

With the thought hanging over them, they went to their lessons. History of Magic was long, boring, and, as usual, a good place for a nap. They got their first assignment marks back. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin all earned an "A" on their essays. Professor Binns informed them that they would be graded on O.W.L. standards for the rest of the year.

Potions was another nightmare. Snape repeated Binns in saying their homework was, and would be, graded on the basis O.W.L.'s were graded on. He handed back their homework. Matt got a "P," Caitlin got another "A," and, to her shock, Emily got an "O." Snape studied her for a moment when he handed back her paper, but he didn't praise her. They started the Shrinking Solutions, and Matt knew his was messed up when it turned yellow. Emily's was a clear turquoise, Caitlin's was blue-green, but hers was better than, say, Neville's, which was pink.

Then came Divination. To everyone's displeasure, "High Inquisitor Umbridge." Was there. She was sitting in a corner, on a pouf, and was grinning broadly. The Americans took a table as far away from Trelawney and Umbridge as possible, giving Umbridge looks of deepest loathing when she didn't look her way. Emily even kept her book closed for this lesson.

"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney," she said in that terrifying girlish voice, "You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?"

Professor Trelawney nodded and continued to pass out books. When that was done, she said, "We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today. Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest nighttime visions with the aid of the _Oracle_."

Matt, Emily, and Caitlin, however, didn't bother. They did their best to listen in on Trelawney and Umbridge, but as they were so far away, they couldn't hear a word. Umbridge followed her around and quizzed her, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't hear. But she must've said something because Trelawney tried to make a death prediction for Umbridge. As much as they wanted it to be true, they all knew it wasn't going to happen.

When class finally ended, Umbridge was first to leave. And, sadly, everyone knew what was in their future without the help of Trelawney. Umbridge was smiling and humming when they entered her classroom for the next class.

"Wands away," she said, when class came to order, "As we finished chapter one last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page 19 today and commence chapter 2, 'Common Defensive Theories and Their Derivation.' There will be no need to talk."

She sat down, smiling so widely and slackly that it made them sick. Matt, who was unfortunately in the front row, had to fake reading the book to avoid detention. On his left, Caitlin was busy drawing inappropriate comments and drawings in her book, while on the right, Emily was reading Seth's book by concealing it from Umbridge. Then, the toad-woman stood up and walked around to Hermione for some reason. The class turned to watch.

"What is it this time, Miss Granger?" said Umbridge quietly.

"I already read Chapter 2," Hermione said defiantly.

"Well then, proceed to Chapter 3."

"I've read that, too. I've read the whole book," Hermione replied, arms crossed.

"Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkhard says about counterjinxes in Chapter 15."

"He says counterjinxes are improperly named," said Hermione at once, "He says 'counterjinx' is just a name people give their jinxes to make them sound more acceptable."

Everyone, including Umbridge, was impressed and speechless.

"But I disagree," Hermione continued.

"You disagree?" said Professor Umbridge, her gaze becoming much colder.

"Yes, I do," said Hermione, "Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does he? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively."

"Oh you do, do you?" said Umbridge, now in a normal voice again, "Well, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Ms. Granger."

"But-" Hermione began.

"That is enough," said Umbridge, walking back to the front of the room, "Miss Granger, I am going to take 5 points from Gryffindor House."

"What for?" Harry said angrily.

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions," said Professor Umbridge smoothly. I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more license, but as none of them -- with the exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects -- would have passed a Ministry inspection-"

"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher," said Harry, loudly, "there was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out the back of his head."

Everyone was so silent that it was loud. Then…

"I think 25 points from Gryffindor and another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr. Potter," Umbridge said sleekly.

Harry sat down and stared ahead. Matt, Caitlin, and especially Emily, were outraged.

"In America," Matt said, voice shaking from fury, "We are entitled to our own opinion."

"And we're allowed to speak our opinions whenever and wherever we want," Caitlin added, staring coldly at Umbridge.

"Even in class," Emily concluded. The class was silent again.

Umbridge seemed taken aback by this. It took her a while, but she finally came back with, "Well, as you can see, we're not in America…"

"And I can easily see where they teach better," hissed Matt, Emily and Caitlin nodding.

Everyone knew they'd instantly gone too far. Umbridge's face went red, and her girlish voice shook with fury.

"Detention for you 3, too. And 20 points from each of your houses. Never insult the way I teach again," she said.

Matt, Emily, and Caitlin went back to their books, each shaking on the inside with anger.

That night, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin reported to Umbridge's office without a word. She smiled as they entered. Harry was sitting in a corner, waiting for Umbridge to give him his punishment. He didn't look at them, nor did he turn as Umbridge led them out of her office and into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She separated them in different rows and desks.

"You will be doing lines. Each of you will write, "I will not insult Professor Umbridge's teaching ever again. Carry on."

She handed them all black, pointed quills. With no ink. Emily found this extremely funny.

"Well, I suppose that means we can't do the lines," she said, "And if we do, she can't know, can she?"

With that, she wrote, "Umbridge is a fat cow," on her paper. However, she gasped in pain and dropped the quill. Those words had etched over the back of her hand and had been written in her own blood. Matt couldn't help but gasp, Caitlin looked shocked, Emily furious. But the skin instantly healed over and it was just a little inflamed. Matt took up his own quill and wrote, "Hi." and the same thing happened to him. Caitlin was shocked, and didn't touch her quill at first. But, however, Emily took up the quill and started to write. Matt was extremely confused at this.

"Why are you doing that?" Matt asked, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not going to let that Toad think she defeated us," Emily replied, not even wincing as her hand was repeatedly sliced open.

The others, of course, slowly took up their quills and began to write. For over 2 hours they wrote it over and over, Matt wincing and moaning slightly as it cut his hand open. Emily and Caitlin barely showed any signs of weakness, and, when Umbridge finally arrived, they gave her a stony look.

"Let me see, dears," she said, reaching for their hands.

"Don't touch me," Emily said, withdrawing her hand. Umbridge stared at her for a minute, then turned and picked up the quills, "You can leave now."

They left without a word, and headed back to their Common Rooms, Emily walking with Harry.

That night, they told their friends what had happened.

"That's horrible!" Melody exclaimed while Rachel looked horrified when Matt had explained.

"That evil bitch," Seth snarled when Emily showed him her red hand.

"No way!" Jo cried when Caitlin showed her own palm to her new friend.

No one was fool enough to complain. They knew if they complained, Umbridge would have their hides for it. So, they took the loss of house points and detention very well and vowed to make them up. The only way they could fight back at Umbridge was to not do any work or homework she assigned.

As September drew to a close, however, relations became strained between the friends. Matt was hanging out with Melody, Rachel, and his roommates more often, Emily was with Seth a lot more, and Caitlin hung out with a lot of the Slytherins, especially Jo. However, things really went for a whirl one cold, dreary Thursday afternoon, free period for the 5th years.

Caitlin and Jo were summoned to an empty classroom on the bottom floor by Josephine one day. She showed them a banner that Pansy and Millicent had managed to steal from one place or another. As a joke, they made some modifications to it, rolled it up, and carried it to a tower near the courtyard, where it was slowly filling up with students. When it was nearly full, they unfurled it down.

The banner had been modified greatly. Instead of the Gryffindor lion, it had a kitten, pawing some string playfully. Instead of Gryffindor, it said Gryffindork. And there was a giant Serpent in the background that was slowly stalking the kitten, and everyone knew it was going to eat it had this been a real scene.

The reactions ranged from amusement and cheers from the Slytherins, shouts and boos from the Gryffindors, and mild variations of both from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Emily and Seth were beside themselves when they saw it. While the rest of the crowd cheered, booed, and talked about it, they strode forward, wands in hand, until they reached the bottom.

"Incendio!" they cried together. The banner was set aflame and it burned to the top. When the flames ended, Emily saw Caitlin amongst the girls who were reveling in the chaos they just caused. With a filthy look, she and Seth turned and went back inside.

Matt had been watching from his bench where he'd been talking with his roommates. He was mildly amused when the banner was displayed, thinking it was just a joke. However, when the Gryffindors started going crazy about it (including when Seth and Emily set it on fire), he knew it was much more serious. When the 2 set off, Matt followed. He caught up with them a short distance from Transfiguration.

"Emily! Slow down!" he called, running towards them.

"What?" she cried, spinning around to face him.

"It was just a joke," he said, sliding to a stop in front of them.

Seth stepped forward. He was a bit taller than Matt, who withdrew slightly.

"In Hogwarts, we take our house pride very seriously. It was just a harmless joke for you, but for us, it's an insult to our glory," he said angrily. Then he and Emily stalked off, leaving Matt feeling angry and stupid.

The next week was the last in September. Matt and Emily were on a severely strained talking-basis friendship. Matt barely talked to Caitlin, who thought he'd sided with Emily. Emily wasn't speaking to Caitlin at all. Caitlin thought, like Matt, that it was just a practical joke. Instead of trying to make things right with Emily, her friends convinced her that Emily was the one at fault for destroying all their hard work.

So, when the weekend arrived, Emily and Seth sat outside, overlooking the lake, reading their books, Matt was flying around with Melody, Rachel, Blaine, Terry, Nate, Jack, and Dakota, and Caitlin was stalking after Malfoy and his goons with Pansy, Millicent, Ashley, Josephine, and Jo. Jo and Caitlin really didn't want to do this, but they did so they could stay friends with them. When Emily passed by, Caitlin looked resolutely in another direction.

The day seemed to go to fast. Suddenly it was dinner. Matt was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with his friends, along with 2 more Ravenclaw boys he didn't like (Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein); Emily was, as usual, sitting with Seth, and Caitlin was sitting with her Slytherin friends.

During dinner, however, Hermione Granger first went to Seth and Emily. She quickly explained about a secret Defense Against the Dark Arts group that they'd be forming, and if they wanted to participate, to go to the Hog's Head next weekend. Emily looked at Seth, and nodded, after making sure Umbridge wouldn't be teaching. Hermione then approached the Ravenclaw group, and made the same proposition. They readily accepted, although Rachel couldn't get to Hogsmeade, Matt promised to fill her in.

The next week passed quicker, it seemed, than the other 2. Saturday arrived again, and everyone who had a permission slip was raring to visit Hogsmeade. Matt and Melody walked together, Seth and Emily weren't far behind. They only had an hour before they were supposed to meet, so they explored the village. Seth and Emily walked past the joke and candy shops at first, and walked up to gaze at the Shrieking Shack. They knew it was the most haunted place in England. Then, they went back to Honeyduke's, where they bought all their favorite sweets.

Matt and Melody made their first stop in Honeydukes. They found all of their favorite candies, and more. They even tried some blood-flavored lollipops. Then they headed to Zonko's, and bought a couple of their trick products. One of the newest ones was a piece of parchment that insults anyone who writes on it, which Matt bought right away.

Then it was time to head to the Hog's Head. Matt, Emily, Seth, and Melody arrived at the same time. Seth and Emily entered without a word, and they took their seats as close to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as possible. Fred Weasely started handing out butterbeer, but Matt and Melody passed when they saw how dirty the bottles were. When everyone was settled, they looked to Harry.

"Er… Well… er… hi," Hermione said, and everyone knew she was nervous. So they looked at he instead.

"Well… erm… well, you know why you're here. Erm… well, Harry here had the idea… well, I had the idea that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defense Against the Dark Arts, and I mean really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us because nobody could call that Defense Against the Dark Arts, and, well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands. And by that, I mean learning how to defend ourselves, not just theory but the real spells…"

"You want to pass your Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too, I bet?" Michael Corner asked.

"Of course I do," said Hermione, looking scandalized, "Bt I want more than that, I want to be properly trained in Defense because… because…," she took a deep breath, "Because Lord Voldemort is back."

Everyone shuddered. Some even screamed, choked on their butterbeer, or let out gasps. Matt, Emily, Harry, and Hermione were the only ones who had no reaction.

"Well, that's the plan anyway," said Hermione, "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to-"

"Where's the proof that You-Know-Who is back?" said a rude, blonde-haired Hufflepuff boy in the corner. Matt and Emily glared at him.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it-" Hermione began, patiently.

"You mean Dumbledore believes him," said the blond boy, pointing to Harry.

"Who are _you_?" Ron said, matching his rudeness.

"Zacharias Smith," said the boy. Matt and Emily snorted loudly at the name, which caused a couple of others to laugh, "and I think we've got a right to know exactly what makes _him_ think that You-Know-Who's back."

"Look," Hermione said, her patience wearing, "that's not what this meeting was supposed to be about-"

"It's okay, Hermione," Harry suddenly said. Then he turned to Smith, "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole story about what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you don't believe me. I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone-"

"All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered. I think we'd all like to know…"

"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone, I can't help you.. I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's why you're here, you might as well clear out."

When no one moved, Hermione spoke, "So… so… like I was saying, if you want to learn some defense, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet, and where we're going to -"

"Is it true," interrupted a Hufflepuff girl, "that you can produce a corporeal Patronus?"

"Are you related to Madam Bones?" Harry asked.

"She's my auntie. I'm Susan Bones," Susan said.

"Blimey, Harry, I never knew that," Lee said, awestruck.

"Mum told Ron not to spread it around, she said you get enough attention as it is," Fred grinned.

"She's not wrong," Harry said.

And then everyone got on it. More for the American's benefit, they went through all the things Harry's done over the years, from saving the Sorcerer's Stone, to defeating the Basilisk, to fighting off Dementors, and everything he did in the Triwizard Tournament. Finally, Harry had to speak.

"Look, I… I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest, but… I had a lot of help with that stuff…" he said.

But that set of another spark. Everyone started saying things like, "Not with the dragon!" and "no one helped with the dementors." Even Harry had to agree… but then…

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" Zacharias Smith said, rudely as ever.

Before anyone, even Ron, could do anything, Emily and Matt screamed, "Shut the hell up!" at the same time. Everyone suddenly turned to look at them, and both looked back to Harry. "Continue."

Harry nodded and couldn't help but grin.

"Well," Zacharias said, obviously flustered, "we've all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it…"

"That's not what he said!" snarled Fred.

"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" George added, pulling out a long, lethal-looking instrument from a Zonko's bag.

"Or any part of your body, really. We're not too fussy where we stick this," Fred added.

Hermione intervened with, "Yes, well, moving on… the point as, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?"

Everyone, except Zacharias, nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

"Right," Hermione said, "Well, then, the next question is how often are we going to meet?

There's no point in meeting less than once a week…"

"Hang on," Angelina said, "It can't interfere with our Quidditch Practices.

"No, nor with ours," added Cho Chang, the only female Ravenclaw on the team.

"Nor ours," Zacharias Smith added.

"Who cares about your Quidditch practices? You guys haven't won in about… 12 years?" Seth retorted, earning him ugly looks from all the Hufflepuffs.

"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," Hermione said, loudly, to avoid another conflict, "but, to be honest, this is probably the most important we're talking about learning to defend ourselves from V… Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

"Well said!" Ernie MacMillian said. Many inwardly groaned, expecting another speech from him. They weren't disappointed, "Personally I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our O.W.L.'s coming up.

"I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher upon us at this critical period. Obviously they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is actively trying to prevent us from using defensive spells…"

"We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defense Against the Dark Arts is that she's got some… mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as some kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilize us against the Ministry!"

Everyone was stunned. Everyone, that is, except Luna Lovegood.

"Well, that makes sense," she said, "After all, Fudge has got his own private army."

"What?" everyone said, stunned.

"Yes, he's got an army of heliopaths," said Luna solemnly.

"No he hasn't," Hermione snapped.

"Yes, he has," Luna said.

"What are heliopaths?" Neville asked.

"They're spirits of fire," Luna said, and almost no one believed her by now, "Great, tall, flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of…"

"They don't' exist, Neville," Hermione said tartly.

"Yes they do," Luna replied angrily.

"I'm sorry, but there's no _proof_ of that?" Hermione said, eyes locking with Luna's.

"There are plenty of eyewitness accounts, just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you-"

"_Hem hem_"

Matt and ½ of everyone jumped and looked around. They had heard Umbridge clear her throat. However, it turned out to be Ginny, who had done such a good impression that many people laughed.

"Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and get Defense Lessons?" she said, smiling.

"Yes," said Hermione, "yes we were, you're right."

"As long as," Angelina began.

"Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch," Hermione said, in a tired voice, "Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet…"

"Library?" suggested Katie Bell, a Gryffindor Chaser.

"I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed about us doing jinxes in the Library," Harry said.

"Besides," Matt added, "Umbridge would easily know about it, and she'd find some way to expel all of us."

"True…" Hermione said, "But this isn't anything illegal, study groups are allowed.

"It's just that this isn't exactly a 'study group,' wouldn't you say?" Seth said.

"De ja vu…"muttered Ron.

"Okay, fine, we won't use the Library," said Ginny, trying to keep the plans moving.

"Maybe an un-used classroom?" Dean Thomas suggested.

"Yeah," Ron said, "McGonagall let Harry, Hermione and me use her room when he was training for the Tri-Wizard last year, remember?"

"But, like Matt said, Umbridge would easily know," Melody said, "And I don't think any teachers would let us practice in their rooms anyway…"

"Right, well, we'll try and find somewhere. We'll get message around to all of you when we have one," Hermione said, pulling out a piece of parchment.

"I… I think we should all write our names down, just to see who was here. But I also think," she took a deep breath, "that we ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So, if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge, or anyone else, what we're up to."

Fred and George signed the paper first. The Americans signed next, followed by their friends, and Matt signed Rachel's name. Then it was passed to Zacharias Smith, who hesitated.

"Er… well, I'm sure Ernie or Mateo will tell me when the meeting's are," he said, not taking the list Seth tried to pass to him.

But Ernie also looked hesitant about signing.

"I… well.. We are _prefects_," Ernie said, "And if this list was found… well, I mean to say… Umbridge wouldn't take it well…"

"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year!" Emily cried.

"I… yes," Ernie said, "Yes, I do believe that, it's just…"

"Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?" said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"No. No, of course not," Ernie replied, "I… yes, of course, I'll sign."

Everyone signed it, and Hermione put it in her bag. Then there was silence. They sort of glanced around at each other and, then, one by one, the left.

Caitlin and her friends, the other Slytherin girls, watched as everyone came out of the pub. They had been standing on the corner where Honeydukes was, eating sweets that had been just recently bought (or stolen, in Millicent's case), and what they saw gave them an idea. Students from all houses were emerging from the Hog's Head. They were chatting and waving to one another. This got the girls suspicious.

"I wonder what they're up to…" muttered Josephine, eyes narrowed.

"Here comes a couple of those Ravenclaws," muttered Pansy, and they hid in the shadows.

The 2 Ravenclaw girls walked by. It was Marietta Edgecombe and Cho Chang, 6th Years.

They were talking, apparently, about what had just happened in the Hog's Head.

"If Umbridge finds out, Cho, we're going to be in so much trouble! I don't know how you dragged me along to this…" Marietta said, angrily.

"Don't worry," Cho said, trying to keep her friend cool, "It's fine. How can she find out, anyway? I mean, unless one of us tells her…"

They walked away. The girls emerged. Pansy, Millicent, and Ashley looked like Christmas had come early. Josephine was grinning and doing a little jig. Caitlin and Jo exchanged a worried glance. They knew the others wanted to blab to Umbridge about this. However, Caitlin had seen Matt and Emily in the group, and, even though she was at odds with them, she didn't want to get them expelled. However, it seemed Jo and Caitlin had no choice in the matter.

"We'll go as soon as we get back! We'll get them all in so much trouble, and make them lose so many house points, that we'll be bound to win the house cup!" Pansy shrieked with laughter.

"Why wait? Let's go now!" Millicent said.

"Er… you guys go ahead," Jo said.

"We wanna hang around her for a while longer," Caitlin said.

"Don't' be silly, let's all go, that way we all get rewarded!" Josephine said, doing her jig still.

So, with last, sad looks at Hogsmeade, Jo and Caitlin followed their friends up to the castle again.

They went straight to Umbridge's office when they arrived. She greeted them warmly.

"What is it, dears?" she said in her simpering, girlish voice, her eyes bulging slightly.

"We have something very important to tell you Professor," Pansy said, "We hear someone's starting a club that you won't approve of!"

"Really dears?" she said, her smile wider than they'd ever seen it, "Thank you for verifying. I just got word from a trusted source that one of your fellow students plans to start an illegal Defense Group. I just needed to verify it and you all did just that. 20 points to each of you!"

Everyone, except Caitlin, looked excited at this. Slytherin was now 120 points further ahead in the running. And they were going to make one of their classmates' life hell. The question is, what would be done?

The answer came Monday morning. In all the rooms, a giant poster had been put up that covered nearly ½ the bulletin boards. It read:

----------By the Order of----------

**THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**

All Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, and Clubs are henceforth disbanded.

An Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club is herby defined as a regular meeting of 3 or more students.

Permission to reform may be sought from the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts (Professor Umbridge)

No Student Organizations, Societies, Teams, Groups, or Clubs may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.

Any students found to have formed, or to belong to, an Organization, Society, Team, Group, or Club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.

_The above is in accordance with_

_Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four_

Below this was Umbridge's signature and a seal from the Minister of Magic.

Emily was in shock. Seth rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly.

Matt, Melody, the other 5th year Ravenclaws and Rachel just stared.

The Slytherin girls were beside themselves with glee.

Everyone who was at the Hog's Head 2 days before knew one thing: Umbridge knew!

Matt and Emily nearly collided in the Great Hall. They were, for the first time in weeks, trying to see the other. Seth, Melody, Rachel, and the others were still miles away, trying to catch up through the crowd going to breakfast.

"She knows," Matt said when he and Emily took seats at Gryffindor.

"How? Who told? I'll kill them," Emily said.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered, however, almost everyone in the meeting on Saturday tried to get over, but Hermione shooed them away. Thankfully, Umbridge wasn't in the Great Hall yet, so she didn't see this. Otherwise, she would've probably tortured the answer out of them. Harry and Ron took seats next to Seth, Hermione took a seat next to Emily.

"We still doing it?" Seth said in a low voice.

Harry nodded, and Matt nodded, stood up, and went over to his table.

"We're doing it," he said, quietly, when he took a seat between Blaine and Melody.

Nate, Blaine, Jack, Dakota, Terry whooped, Padama, Melody, Mandy Brocklehurst, and Lisa Turpin laughed, and Rachel did her own sort of jig.

The next week was a long one. Even though they still had the same classes, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin weren't speaking to each other. Matt and Emily started to make up, slightly, but Caitlin still, apparently, didn't need them as she seemed to be having fun without them. In the week, they experienced a lot of interesting happenings.

Neville almost tried to attack Malfoy and his goons outside of Potions one day. Ironically, Professor Umbridge inspected that lesson. Professor Trelawney had been put on probation and was hysterical for both their classes. The 5th Years finished Chapter 3 in Umbridge's class, and she announced there would be a test the following Monday. No one really cared, though.

Matt continued to get P's and he got a D on one assignment in Potions. Emily, who had been getting E's, finally managed an O on her Sleeping Potion. She was, of course, beside herself. Caitlin also managed a few E's, but stayed mainly around the Average category. They all took A's and E's in Herbology, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Divination (although Emily also got a few P's), Matt got all O's in Transfiguration with Emily and Caitlin getting E's, they all got O's in Astronomy (the only ones to do so besides Hermione Granger, and everyone liked Professor Sinistra), but in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin had gotten T's all the way.

Finally, they got word of where the first meeting was to be held. Matt, Melody, Blaine, and Nate headed to the Library after lessons to discuss how they were going to make it without being missed. Emily and Seth didn't worry and just went to the Library to read. The reading still seemed to be bringing them closer together. Caitlin didn't know about the meeting, and, instead, she was sitting on another side of the Library, with Malfoy and his friends, along with Jo, and the rest of her roommates. They, instead, were chatting animatedly while everyone around them did their work.

"And, of course, Umbridge gave the Slytherin team permission to practice right after I asked her," Malfoy was saying, as he lounged back in his chair. The girls were transfixed as he re-told his story about the last Educational Decree. He relished that Umbridge, as far as he knew, had not given Gryffindor permission to practice. Caitlin knew otherwise, but she didn't say anything. She couldn't take her eyes off Malfoy the whole time.

"So, Caitlin," he said, suddenly, "You never said. Which family does your bloodline come from?"

"Oh… just the Murphy's over in America, you know…" she said, rather quietly.

"Pure-blood, right?" Malfoy said, looking closer.

"Yes!" Caitlin exclaimed, trying to look as though he'd just mortally offended her.

It had worked. "Sorry," he said, and then launched into another story of how his father and the Minister got along so well. Not many heard it, least of all Caitlin, who was now staring at Malfoy without really seeing him.

Matt and Melody were, as usual, sitting next to each other. Blaine and Nate were across, with Rachel sitting on the side of the table, working on a quick essay from Binns. Jack, Dakota, and Terry were serving detentions for McGonagall (they'd made a really crude joke about Eloise Midgen in Transfiguration and McGonagall wasn't happy about it.

"So, we need to find a way to be able to be gone without being suspicious…" Matt said, quietly.

"It doesn't matter, no one will notice," Nate, rolling his eyes.

"But if Sinistra does a check and we're not there…" Matt said.

"She'll think we're in the Library or something. Problem solved," Blaine said, also shaking his head.

"Well… fine, but if we get caught, I'll kill you both," Matt said, and because it was such a stupid statement, everyone laughed.

"We'd better go," Rachel said, checking her watch and putting away her History of Magic.

"Come on," Matt said, leading them past a table with Slytherins, all of who gave them looks of disdain as they passed.

Emily and Seth didn't talk the entire time. They read. Emily was really enjoying this book, and, apparently, so was Seth. When the time came, they decided to head to the 9th floor.

Unfortunately, they had to pass a table of Slytherins, a table which included Caitlin. Emily gave her the briefest of glances and then stalked by, head high. Seth also walked by without a word. He did, however, slip something under their chairs: a wrapper from Honeydukes. With that, they left, while the Slytherins made kissing sounds and woos behind them.

Madam Pince came by a short time later and saw the wrapper. She instantly flew into rage mode.

"CHOCOLATE IN THE LIBRARY? OUT!!! ALL OF YOU!!!" she shrieked, causing everyone to jump. The Slytherins did their best to say it wasn't theirs, but that only fueled Madam Pince.

"10 points from Slytherin. For each of you!" she screamed as they made signs of protest.

So, they left the Library, giving Madam Pince the dirtiest looks they could muster.

In the meantime, everyone from the Hog's Head Meeting was now in the room on the 9th floor. The Room of Requirement, it was apparently called. Emily, Seth, Matt, and Melody had taken seats in the front. Rachel, the youngest one there, was sitting between Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood. When the final people (Jack, Terry, and Dakota) arrived the door swung shut and locked. Every eye was on Harry again.

"Well," he said, slightly nervously, "This is the place we've found for practices, and you've… er… obviously found it okay…"

"I think it's brilliant," Cho Chang said from behind Matt.

"It's bizarre," one of the Weasely twins (Fred, probably), said, "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it as just a broom cupboard then…"

"Hey, Harry…" Dean said from the back.

"Oy, shut up or we'll not get anything done," Jack said.

"Thanks," Harry said, "I've been thinking about the sort of stuff … what Hermione?" he asked as Hermione's hand shot up.

"I think we ought to elect a leader," Hermione said.

"Harry's the Leader!" Cho exclaimed as though Hermione was crazy.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," Hermione said, "It's formal and gives him authority. So… everyone who thinks Harry ought to be leader?" Every hand went up.

"Er… thanks… and… WHAT Hermione?"

"I also think we should have a name," said Hermione, beaming, "It'll give us a feeling of team spirit" (Emily made a gagging noise at the words "team spirit") - "and unity, don't you think?"

People started coming up with names right away. A few of the ones the Americans liked were, "The Anti-Umbridge League"; "The Ministry of Magic are Morons Group" and, Matt's personal favorite, "The Silvites"… maybe that's because it was the name that he came up with. Unfortunately, no one thought highly of it, except Luna Lovegood, who whispered to Matt what she knew what Silvites were, and he was shocked that she was right.

He made a mental note to get to know her more.

However, the name they decided on, by Ginny and Cho, was "Dumbledore's Army." Everyone embraced it with laughs and claps.

"Right," said Harry, sounding slightly weary, "shall we get practicing then? I was thinking, the first thing we should do is _Expelliarmus_, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic, but I've found it really useful-"

"Oh, _please_," Zacharias Smith said, rolling his eyes, "I don't think _Expelliarmus_ is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," Harry said, quietly, "It saved my life last June."

Matt, who was the only one sitting next to Zacharias, gave him a filthy look and turned back to Harry. Many others followed his example.

"But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave," Harry added, but when no one moved, he continued, "Okay. I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

Seth and Emily partnered up. Matt and Melody went together. Blaine and Nate stood between them. Jack and Dakota stood behind Matt and Melody, while Rachel and Terry stood closest to the door.

"Right," Harry said, "On 3. 1. 2. 3!"

Matt fired his wand at the exact same time Melody did. It ended up making both wands shoot out of their hands. Seth was taken by surprise when Emily shot such a powerful Disarming Charm that he was thrown backwards into the bookcase. He grinned at her and stood back up. Rachel, to both her and Terry's amazement, easily disarmed the older boy. Dakota and Jack completely missed each other, and while Nate missed, Blaine didn't. It was the same story all around, people missing, while some getting it right.

When they tried again, the same thing happened with Matt and Melody, but this time Seth knocked Emily back with a well-placed Disarming Charm (Emily let him, to be honest). Terry missed Rachel, who Disarmed him once again. Jack missed Dakota, and Dakota made a shelf let go of all its books. Nate and Blaine actually managed to hit each other, but nothing happened.

They stayed at it until past 9. Matt and Melody could not successfully disarm one another, unless both wands flew out of their hands, Emily disarmed Seth about twelve times as much as Seth did her, Jack and Dakota hadn't made much progress, and Terry didn't disarm Rachel once.

"That was pretty good," Harry said, "but we've overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?"

"Sooner!" a few people cried.

"The Quidditch Season's about to begin!" Angelina said, quickly, "We need team practices, too!"

"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," said Harry, "and we can decide on additional meetings then… Come on, we'd better get going…"

In the meantime, Umbridge had beckoned many Slytherin students to her classroom. She was sitting behind her desk, looking at them as they took their seats, one by one. She smiled her smile, and drummed her fingers, and then, she spoke.

"My dears," she said, her wide, slack face grinning back at them, "I am afraid my Decree hasn't done much. I have reason to believe that there is an illegal Organization that is trying to do something to hurt us. Not to mention that Mr. Potter is also spreading nasty lies about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I need your help."

Everyone's listening intensified. Helping the High Inquisitor could only help them.

"I need you to find anyone who is doing ANYTHING that I don't permit. Anyone you catch and can prove evidence for, you will receive all the house points I take away from that person," Umbridge simpered, smiling.

"Huh?" said Goyle, who had not understood it. Everyone, except Crabbe, who also didn't understand it, groaned.

"I mean, Gregory," said Umbridge, smiling wider, "That if you, say, catch a Ravenclaw doing something wrong, depending on what they did wrong, I will take a number of house points. For example, skipping a lesson. If you prove that someone skipped a lesson, I will take 20 points from their house and give 20 points to Slytherin. Simple enough?"

"Uh… sure…" Goyle said as Malfoy gave him a warning look.

"So that's all that's in it for us? House points?" Malfoy said, turning back to Umbridge.

"Mr. Malfoy, you know as well as I do that there will be more in it for you if you help me. And I know you know what I mean," she said, grinning.

The Slytherins all grinned, too. This was going to be a fun year with this woman, they all thought. All, that is, except for Jo and Caitlin. They exchanged a gloomy glance, knowing that if they wanted to keep their friends and save face, they were going to have to do whatever Umbridge said. 

"Soon," Umbridge said, standing up and pacing, "Is the first Quidditch Match of the season. I am expecting trouble there, and this can be your chance to earn yourself many, many house points!"

The Slytherins all grinned and rubbed their hands. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Montague, were particularly happy about this. They were on the Quidditch team, and they knew they could make life unhappy for those others...

The first Quidditch Match _was _coming quickly. Many students talked excitedly about which teams they thought were going to win (their own house, obviously), and the Americans soon learned the actual Cup hasn't been held in over 2 years. So, everyone who loved Quidditch, and some who didn't, were all looking forward to the game. As for Matt, Caitlin, and Emily, all 3 were looking forward to watching their first Quidditch Match.

Matt and the other guys woke up early on the Saturday of the match. They chatted animatedly about it was the pulled on their robes. Downstairs, they met Rachel, Melody, Lisa, Mandy, and Padama. They all went to Breakfast together, but Matt stayed behind. He was waiting for Luna, and was shocked when she came downstairs with a hat with, what he thought, was a lion's head on it.

"Nice…" Matt said, looking at it.

"You like it? Watch what it does," said Luna.

She put her wand to the hat and it roared. The roar was so realistic that everyone jumped and books flew off the shelves. Luna beamed at the hat.

"Awesome," Matt said, rubbing his ears a little.

"Shall we to breakfast?" said Luna.

She took out a copy of a magazine called _The Quibbler_ out of her bag. Matt looked at it. She was reading it upside-down.

"Erm… Luna, you're reading that upside-down," Matt pointed out.

"I know. It's a rune thing I read in a different issue," Luna said serenely as a few

Hufflepuffs tried to get out of their way, frightened by Luna's hat.

"Okay…" Matt said, smiling slightly. He liked Luna, she was fun to be around, he figured. She didn't care what other people thought of her.

"I hope Gryffindor wins," Luna said, as they came to the staircase.

"Me, too." Matt nodded eagerly, "I hope Slytherin gets destroyed," He added, thinking of Caitlin.

"We'll see," Luna said, as serene as ever, as they walked into the Great Hall.

Emily had met Hermione coming down the stairs. Seth either wasn't up or had gone already. Assuming the latter, Emily took a couple of Gryffindor flags and tied her scarf around her neck. Normally, she'd rather die than show 'team spirit,' but as this was Slytherin, she figured she could let it down a bit. Fred and George Weasley were just ahead of them, talking in low voices about something called, "Skiving Snackboxes." Emily walked slightly quicker to catch up with them while Hermione gave them a look of mingled disgust and exhaustion.

"What are they?" Emily whispered. She had barely spoken to the twins before, but admired their tactics to cause teachers hell.

"There an assortment of sweets," Fred said.

"That you take before a lesson," George continued.

"That make you sick," Fred grinned.

"So you can skip class," George finished.

"Can I have a few? How much?" Emily asked, thinking she could get out of many a class.

"They're not done. We're having a lot of trouble with a few of them, including the Fever Fudge and Nosebleed Nugget.

"I won't ask," Emily said as Fred and George exchanged a glance, "But good luck, I hope you slaughter Slytherin."

"Thanks," Fred and George said in unison and they continued, while Emily fell back with Hermione.

"I don't believe them," Hermione hissed, looking at Fred and George, "This is their N.E.W.T. year and they're just worried about whether they can produce fevers without boils."

"They don't care about that, Hermione," Emily said impatiently, "They plan to open a joke shop, and I hope they are a success. Besides, with Umbridge around, we're gonna need them more than you think."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"Trust me, that toad was extremely happy yesterday. I get the feeling we have a new Educational Decree heading our way…" Emily groaned.

"I just hope Ron doesn't goof up…" Hermione said, fearfully.

Emily gave a hollow laugh. She'd been watching the Gryffindor Team Practices while she was supposed to be doing Defense Against the Dark Arts Homework. Ron sucked, no point in denying it. He'd been getting better, but Emily knew he was going to suck at today's match.

"I'm sure he'll do just fine, though," Hermione said desperately as they entered the Great Hall. Emily saw that Seth was sitting across from Harry and Ron, so Emily took her usual seat next to him and began on her breakfast while Ron looked like he was going to pass out.

Caitlin and Jo had stayed up late the previous night talking. It was only 7 in the morning when Pansy chucked a pillow at Caitlin to wake her up. She sat up tiredly and looked at her alarm clock. She groaned and fell back against the pillows. Jo, too, was being wrestled out of bed by Ashley and Millicent. Apparently there was something going on in the Common Room. So, still reluctant to wake up this early, Caitlin got out of bed and pulled on her own robes, took her Slytherin Scarf, and headed out. When she arrived in the Common Room, she saw about ½ the house standing around. She raised her eyebrows to Jo, who shrugged. Down in the crowd, Pansy whistled for quiet.

"All of you, SHUT UP!" she cried and everyone turned to look at her, "Today, as we all know, is the first match against Gryffindork. So, we have created a few surprises for them.

Especially the new Keeper. Here, take a badge and take a sheet of lyrics that Malfoy wrote."

Pansy and a few others passed out little crown-like badges and a lyrics sheet. Caitlin examined both. The badge said: "Weasley is our King!", and that made many people laugh. The lyrics sheet was just as nasty, if not worse.

WEASLEY IS OUR KING!

_Weasley cannot save a thing_

_He cannot block a single ring_

_That's why Slytherins All sing_

_Weasley is Our King_

_Weasley was born in a bin_

_He always Let's the Quaffle In_

_Weasley will make sure we win_

_Weasley is our King!_

_Weasley is our King!_

_Weasley is our King!_

_He always let's the Quaffle in_

_Weasley is our king!_

Jo and Caitlin exchanged half amused, half incredulous looks. Jo even said that enmity between the houses hadn't ever been this high that she could remember. So, reluctantly, they marched out of the common room without a word to anyone else, who were all laughing, jeering, or practicing the song.

When they reached the doors to the Entrance Hall, however, Pansy motioned for quiet again.

"Don't sing the song, I want it to be a surprise!" Pansy said as she walked out.

Caitlin and Jo sat at the end of the table, far away from where everyone else was encouraging the Slytherin team. The ate in silence, both knowing they didn't feel right doing this. Finally, though, they were told to get a move on as everyone started heading down to the Pitch. The Slytherin and Gryffindor teams were already in the middle, ready to go. Matt had taken a seat with Melody near the Gryffindor supporters, while Seth and Emily sat just a few seats over from them. Caitlin was on the other side of the stadium, but he and Jo were sitting as far from the other Slytherins as possible, almost into the Ravenclaw students. They didn't want to sing, and even though they were Slytherin, they didn't hate Gryffindor as much as Pansy and the others.

Madam Hooch told them to mount their brooms, and they kicked off. The match proceeded. Every eye was on the Chasers, who were weaving in and out passing between each other. Lee Jordan, the Weasley Twins' friend, was providing commentary.

"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out, making a lot of people laugh.

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest… and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's… ouch, been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe… Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague headed back up the Pitch and… nice Bludger work from George Weasely, that's a Bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away, dodges Warrington, avoids a bludger -- close call, Alicia -- and the crowd is loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

Jo and Caitlin groaned and looked around. All around them, Slytherins were singing that song, that dreaded song to make Ron nervous. And, worst of all, Lee had played right into their hands to make sure the entire stadium heard it. They groaned again as the singing got louder.

_Weasley cannot save a thing_

_He cannot block a s ingle ring_

_That's why Slytherins all sing:_

_Weasley is our King!_

Seth and Emily heard this, gave each other a look of fury, and turned back to the Slytherins, too angry to speak. How dare they? The bastards… Emily thought savagely as they Slytherins sang louder. Boos were issuing from around the crowd to the Slytherins. Then Emily saw Pansy Parkinson, standing in the front row, conducting the singers with her wand. In a rage, Emily pulled out her wand, and conjured up a snake. She had it make its way slowly over to the Slytherin's, through the Hufflepuffs, and when Pansy shrieked and fell backwards, just barely staying in the stands, Emily knew her plot was a success. That didn't stop the singing, though.

_Weasley was born in a bin_

_He always let's the Quaffle in_

_Weasley will make sure we win_

_Weasley is our King!_

Matt was horror-struck. Melody and Rachel were covering their mouths, shocked at what they heard. That was cheating at its worst, and they were completely enraged. Behind them, the rest of the Ravenclaws were booing the Slytherins, shaking hands, fingers, and fists at them. Matt and the 2 girls joined them and screamed insults, even though none but themselves could hear it.

Lee tried vainly to get the crowds attention back on the commentary.

"--and Alicia passes back to Angelina! Come on now, Angelina, looks she's got the Keeper to beat! -- SHE SHOOTS -- SHE -- aaah…"

Unfortunately, she missed. The Keeper pulled off a rather good save, Matt hated to admit, but he threw the Quaffle to Warrington, who sped off towards Ron. The Americans groaned when the singing got louder as it neared Ron.

_Weasley is our King!_

_Weasley is our King!_

_He always let's the Quaffle in!_

_Weasley is our King!_

"-and it's Warrington with the Quaffle, heading for the goal. He's out of Bludger range with the Keeper ahead…"

The singing grew louder, the booing grew louder, and about ¾ of the crowd were praying that Ron made the catch.

"-so it's the first test for the new Gryffindor Keeper, Weasley, brother of Beaters, Fred and George, and a promising new talent on the team… come on, Ron!" Lee continued.

But then cheers of delight interrupted the singing in Slytherin's end. Warrington had scored, the Quaffle going right between his arms and into the goal hoop. The rest of the crowd groaned, and the singing got even louder.

"Slytherins score…" Lee moaned, "So that's ten-nil to Slytherin, bad luck, Ron… anyway,

Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the Pitch,"

But with the loud singing, he could barely be heard above the din. Matt looked around in the Hufflepuffs for no reason. But something that pissed him off so bad that he stood up. Zacharias Smith, sitting in the last corner, was singing "Weasley is our King" along with the Slytherins. Mateo, too, was singing it. Matt was so angry with the both of them that he actually started towards them. Melody and Rachel pulled him back down, saying they noticed it, too, but they didn't feel like doing anything about it. Matt, instead, pulled out Cyclone and a roll of parchment. He scrawled a quick note to Emily while Slytherin scored again, making Matt angry. Then, he sent Cyclone off towards her.

Cyclone, however, figured he'd join the game. Matt cried out when Cyclone flew right into the middle of the Pitch. Suddenly, a Bludger came pelting out of nowhere and flew right next to him. Cyclone freaked out and dove, and almost flew right into Malfoy. Malfoy swatted him away, and Cyclone instead flew into Fred Weasley, who also hit him away with the club. This sent Cyclone soaring right into one of Ron's hoops, distracting Ron and allowing Montague to score. Matt sank down in the seat when this happened.

Emily watched Cyclone's progress and shook her head. Why had Matt tried to send Cyclone with a note when all this was happening? She sighed, pointed her wand at him, and muttered, "Accio Stupid Hummingbird of Doom…" and the unconscious Cyclone soared into her hands. She set him in her pocket, read the note, and saw red. She turned to the Hufflepuffs, and, sure enough, there were those 2 jackasses, Mateo and Zacharias, singing "Weasley is our King." Emily, too, was going to go after them, but Seth, who had read the note, told her to sit down and they'd get them later. Emily, reluctantly, sat down to watch the rest of the match.

There wasn't much left, to be honest. About that time, Harry and Malfoy both dived at the Slytherin goal hoops, apparently after the Snitch. Every eye was on them, and suddenly they were neck and neck, heading for the Snitch. Their arms extended, and… it looked like… Yes! Harry's hand close around the Snitch, and he soared up, the Snitch closed in his hand. Madam Hooch's shrill whistle ended the Match, and a tremendous cheer rose up from everywhere but the Slytherins.

"Gryffindor Wins!" Lee Jordan shouted, while Seth and Emily clapped and cheered.. Matt, Rachel, and Melody hugged each other and jumped around like maniacs. But, the festive attitude didn't last for long.

_Wham!_

Crabbe had smacked a Bludger right at Harry, sending him flying off his broom! The cheers turned into gasps, then the Slytherins started to cheer, while the rest were screaming in rage at Crabbe, shouting insults and once more waving fists and fingers. Harry got up after a few minutes, the team around him and celebrating. Malfoy landed next to him and was apparently saying some stuff about Harry that made him and the twins angry. Few people noticed Ron walk slowly away from the hoops, alone.

Then, suddenly, the twins were making furious attempts to get to Malfoy, who was laughing about something. Then, Harry released George and the 2 of them shot at Malfoy, and began to beat him to hell and back. Seth and Emily cheered, while everyone around them gasped. Matt was torn between amusement, horror, and satisfaction. Then, Madam Hooch shot a curse at the 3, sending them off each other. She shouted something to them, and Harry and George walked away. But by now there were quite a few mini-fights breaking out in the stands, and the Americans decided to leave.

The aftermath of the Quidditch Match was terrible. Even though Gryffindor had won, news spread quickly. Harry, Fred, and George had been kicked off the team! Umbridge had banned them from Quidditch ever again. Goyle had only gotten lines, something that infuriated every non-Slytherin who knew about it.

Worst of all, at least for the Americans, happened about a week after the game. Caitlin felt pretty bad about the whole incident, so she went to apologize to Emily. However, Emily had thought she was one of the ones singing, so that didn't help things at all.

"What do you want?" Emily said as Caitlin approached her in the Library once.

"I just wanted to say…" Caitlin said, but then a stroke of bad luck happened. All of

Caitlin's roommates showed up around then, and all of them leered at Emily and Seth.

"She just wanted to say Gryffindork are losers," Josephine said, standing next to Caitlin.

Emily was infuriated right away. She glared at Caitlin who tried to say something, but Emily cut in, as Seth put his book down and glared at the girls.

"Yeah? Well, at least I'm not in SLUTtherin!" Emily yelled at her, making many students look up at her, "You make me sick. Get out of here."

Caitlin was so shocked that she couldn't speak. Here she'd been to apologize and now she'd been yelled at fiercely by her closest friend. Former closest friend, that is. Caitlin felt betrayed and hurt, and now she hated Emily. And, worst of all, her friends started to verbally abuse Emily, and Caitlin laughed, and even joined in. It looked as though the friendship was over.

Matt, on the other hand, was more angered at Mateo and Zacharias. Sure, Ron had done horrible, and sure, Zacharias hated Ron, but that was no reason to stoop to the Slytherins' level and sing that song! So, the next day, Matt left the Common Room behind to search for them. As luck would have it, both Mateo and Zacharias, along with a few fellow Hufflepuffs, were standing around the 3rd Floor Corridor. Matt, in a huff, strode over to them.

"Mateo, Zacharias, what the hell? Why were you taking the Slytheirn's side in yesterday's match?" Matt yelled as he approached.

"What do you mean?" Zacharias said, crossing his arms in the way that Matt hated the most.

"I mean, why were you singing "Weasley is Our King?" Matt spat at him, which made Zacharias wince slightly.

"Chill out, Matt, it was just a catchy tune…" Mateo began, looking half shocked, half angry.

"Chill out? After you resorted to a Slytherin tactic, you're telling me to chill out? You and

I both know Ron did bad, but that didn't mean making it worse for him!" Matt shouted, losing all control and flipping out like he hadn't done in years, "Both of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Ron is…" Zacharias began angrily.

"And YOU just don't like him! You're a jealous wart, and, personally, I think you deserve to be shot!" Matt shouted at the top of his voice.

That pushed Zacharias and Mateo too far. They both drew their wands out at the same time, and the other Hufflepuffs gasped and ran off. Matt, too, had his wand out quickly. They glared at each other, then…

"_IMPEDIMENTA_!" shouted Mateo

"_TARANTALLEGRA_!" shouted Zacharias.

"_REPELLIO_!" Matt shouted as the spells came towards him, which shocked everyone.

They'd never heard of this spell, and Matt knew why. The spell "_Repellio_" was one of the ones he, Caitlin, and Emily had found in an American Wizarding Textbook, so no doubt they'd not know about it.

The spells shot at Matt stopped in front of him. Matt quickly spun around, and the spells were fired right back at the 2 Hufflepuffs. Mateo was blasted off his feet, while Zacharias' feet began to dance wildly. But, the spells were weakened by _Repellio_, so they wore off soon. A Hufflepuff had come up behind him, and clamped Matt's arms to his sides, while Zacharias and Mateo closed in. Matt tried in vain to cast _Impedimenta_, but it didn't work. Then 4 voices all shouted out:

"_Stupefy!" "Petrificus Totalus!" "Locomotor Mortis!" "Impedimenta!"_

The Hufflepuffs all went down. The one holding Matt was blasted back, then stunned. Mateo's legs had shot together, and he overbalanced and fell. Zacharias, on the other hand, had become rigid as a board, and fell face-first onto the hard, stone floor. Matt whirled around, and, from behind statues, Seth, Emily, Rachel, and Melody emerged. They gave the Hufflepuffs a look of loathing before walking up to Matt.

"You okay?" Seth asked, stepping on Zacharias as he went.

"Yes… fine…" Matt muttered, looking down out of embarrassment. He hadn't flipped out like that in a while and he had always been embarrassed by it.

"Well… that was almost a waste of power, don't you think?" Emily said, making sure she said it loud enough for the Hufflepuffs just down the corridor to hear.

"Yeah, I mean, they're just Hufflepuffs…" Seth said, just as loudly.

"Nice job with _Repellio_, Matt," Melody smiled, "You gotta teach it to me sometime."

"Me, too!" Rachel said, beaming.

However, they heard, "This way, Professor." And suddenly, Professor Sinistra was coming at them. She saw the 3 boys on the ground, then the 5 other students. She seemed torn between anger and, what Matt thought, was amusement.

"What happened here?" she asked as she came up (they noticed she stepped on Zacharias'

hand by "accident.")

"He came up to Mateo and Zacharias and just started shouting at them. Then he pulled his wand on them and…" Justin Finch-Fletchley started to babble, but Emily cut him off.

"They pulled wands on him and he was forced to defend himself, you damn liar!" Emily shouted, her temper rising.

"Miss Davis, please watch your language," Professor Sinistra said, but didn't shout. It was just a mere statement.

"But then they shout curses at him and he made them hit them with some sort of Curse, then his friends came out and Cursed the rest of them!" Justin continued, and when he finished, he gave a self-satisfied smile to them, which Matt thought was more of a leer.

"You left out the part where he," Rachel gestured to the 3rd Hufflepuff, "Held Matt so he couldn't defend himself properly."

"Okay, okay!" Professor Sinistra cried before everyone could start shouting again, "I will have to take 5 points from each of you, including the Hufflepuffs, because Dueling in the corridor is not allowed. Mr. Warren, you come with me."

Matt said a quick good-bye to the others, and followed Professor Sinistra. He inwardly moaned, wondering why he let himself get so out of control. It wasn't even his own house that had lost the Quidditch Match, not one of his friends that had been ridiculed... He followed her to the top floor, then into the Astronomy Tower. She led him past the classroom and into her office, and took a seat, pointing to the one across the desk for him. Matt took a quick look around the room. Books on stars, planets, galaxies, and the Universe in general were stacked around the room. There was a giant model of the Galaxies around the Milky Way hovering overhead, and Matt stared at it until Professor Sinistra cleared her throat.

"Matt, as your Head of House, it is my decision to choose the punishment.

Unfortunately, I realize what Justin said is true, you did start the whole thing. Why?"

"Well… you know how yesterday the Slytherins were singing that song? Well, Zacharias and Mateo were singing it… and… for some reason I got so infuriated that I didn't think clearly. So, I sort of flipped out and went after them. I never meant to duel, I just meant to shout at them to vent off my spleen…"

"Which was the wrong way to go about it," Sinistra pointed out, not unkindly.

"Yes, I know…" Matt muttered, staring at his feet again.

"Well… I'm going to have to give you detention, you realize," she said, sounding very

reluctant, "To make a point to the other students. How about… you help me clean the telescopes tonight at midnight?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Thanks," Matt smiled. He was glad Professor Sinistra was his Head of House; he had a lot of respect for her and she was very nice.

"Well… I suppose all that remains is to write to the Headmaster about it," she said, taking out some parchment, "But, in your case, I'll try to tell it in a way that makes the Hufflepuffs seem more guilty…"

"Thanks, Professor," Matt smiled, and turned to leave.

"Incidentally," she said, while writing, "You earned another "O" on your Mercury Review essay. A lot of people didn't realize that Mercury doesn't have a moon. You, Miss Murphy and Miss Davis were just a few of those that realized this. I believe I should award you all 5 points for that."

"Thanks you so much, Professor!" Matt said, gleefully, and left to meet up with the others.

However, before he made it to the grounds, he ran into Caitlin, who was returning with Jo from the Library, working on the latest of Binns' homework. When they saw Matt, Matt waved at them, but they just gave him a dirty look, and walked to the dungeons. Matt, hurt and angry, walked outside where he forgot all about it when he saw Seth, Emily, Melody, and Rachel down by the now-frozen lake. He wadded quickly through the 2 feet of snow, before he finally made it. 

"Hey!" he called, coming over.

"How'd it go?" Seth said, while he sat on the bank as the girls skated.

"I got detention, but got my points back. Sinistra SO favors Ravenclaw," grinned Matt, jumping onto the lake and promptly falling flat on his back, smacking his head on the ice.

"Awesome," Melody said, helping him up, "What's your detention?" 

"Cleaning off the telescopes, nothing hard," Matt shrugged, as he skated around slightly.

"Nice. Sinistra's awesome," Rachel agreed, skating after him.

Meanwhile, across the grounds, the Slytherin 5th Years were just walking around, cursing piles of snow into other students, making loud, rude comments about people, and being evil in general. Caitlin was seething. She was so angry at Emily and Matt that she didn't care if she never spoke to them again. She hadn't even been singing that dumb song! But she tried to apologize and Emily just spazzed. Well, at least I know who my real friends are… she thought glancing at the girls, who were tailing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Caitlin also noticed something else: Malfoy was throwing her glances every couple of minutes. Caitlin knew he liked her, and she didn't have a problem with that.

"Look, there's that Mudblood, Granger," Malfoy pointed ahead to a hut where, indeed, Hermione was wading towards it through the snow.

"I think I can get a nice hex on her from here…" Pansy said, pulling out her wand.

"No!" Caitlin said, shocking everyone and making them look at her, "There are way too many non-Slytherin witnesses that would turn us in! We should get her when we're alone!"

Everyone looked at each other, grinned, and nodded. Caitlin was, obviously, the smartest in the group (although none would admit it), so they decided to listen to her. Somewhat grudgingly, Pansy put her wand away and turned to see a couple Hufflepuffs who were picking on a Slytherin 1st year. The Hufflepuffs were considerably bigger than him.

"What the hell do they think they're doing?" Millicent said, eyes narrowing.

"I know them…" said Jo slowly, "It's Mateo Martine and Zacharias Smith. I hate them both… shall we make them pay?"

"Let's. We'll show them what happens when they mess with Slytherins," Malfoy said, a mischievous grin on his face.

They blasted more snow out of their way as they make their way over to the 1st year, who was yelling at the older Hufflepuff boys. They were obviously trying to steal some Chocolate Frog cards away from him, and, while Slytherins weren't for right or wrong, they were fiercely loyal to their house, and if you messed with one, you messed with all of them.

"Hey, jackasses, what do you think you're doing?" Caitlin said. She and Malfoy moved in front of the others, who watched with grins.

"What's it to you?" said Zacharias, once more folding his arms, and Caitlin gritted her teeth.

"Just get out of here. We're not exactly having a good day," Mateo said, looking somewhat surprised that Caitlin was with Malfoy.

"You're telling US to get out of here? When you're messing with one of our own? Damn Mudbloods, why don't you just go back to your own worlds. You don't belong at Hogwarts," Malfoy spat.

Already having dueled once, the Hufflepuffs flipped. They pulled out their wands and shot Stunners at Caitlin and Malfoy. But, being expert Duelers, they used a well-placed _Protego_ spell to negate it. They then shot _Locomotor Mortis_ and _Silencio_ at them, making Mateo's legs spring together again, and Zacharias be struck dumb in the middle of a spell.

"What's going on here?" came a smooth, cold voice from behind them.

They all spun around to see Professor Snape staring at them with interest.

"They attacked him, Sir," Malfoy said, indicating the 1st Year, who nodded, "When we asked them nicely to stop, they turned their wands on us. We HAD to defend ourselves!"

"That's not true!" Mateo said from his place in the snow, "We were just walking through and this 1st year comes at us and tries to Curse us, and…"

"Silence, Martine," Snape said, "A First Year wouldn't know enough to take on a 5th year. And, besides, Mr. Smith doesn't seem to be backing you up on your story, anyway."

Zacharias was opening and closing his mouth furiously, with furious gestures, too. Snape's lip curled, then he turned to the other Slytherins.

"Is Malfoy's story correct, Miss Parkinson?" Snape asked.

"Yes, Sir, it honestly is. The only part that he didn't get to say was that the Hufflepuffs were trying to take Chocolate Frog Cards, Money, and anything else our little friend here had," Pansy said, barely concealing a grin.

"Okay, then," Snape said, turning to Mateo and Zacharias, "25 points from Hufflepuff, and Detention for both of you. Meet me in the Hospital Wing at 6. You'll be scrubbing bedpans out. WITHOUT magic. The rest of you, go enjoy the rest of your day."

With a slight smile on his face, Snape left. As soon as he was out of earshot, the Slytherins collapsed into laughter, while the Zacharias dragged Mateo up to the castle.

"That was great. Nice job with Silencio, Murphy," Malfoy said, chuckling.

"Thanks. Snape is awesome! I'm so glad he's our Head of House," Caitlin replied, a grin on her face.

"Hey, Caitlin, you wanna come 'explore' the dungeons tonight?" Josephine asked as they made their way back up to the castle that evening.

"I'll be there," Caitlin said, unable to wait for the fun the night would bring.

Two days later, however, there was a surprise waiting for many of the students in the Great Hall. When they entered, they all noticed Professor Grubbly-Plank was gone... and was instead replaced by a giant man. The Americans learned his name was Hagrid. Caitlin, thanks to her friends, took an immediate dislike to him. Emily seemed glad that he was there, and Matt had no opinion, even though a few Ravenclaws weren't happy with this.

"Whose that?" asked Emily when Seth sat down next to her, looking exhausted.

"Hagrid..." muttered Seth sleepily, "He teaches Care of Magical Creatures, I just wonder why he's just showing up in the middle of November..." he said, then yawned.

"Is he any good?" Emily asked, gazing back at the Giant as Fred, George, and Lee talked to him.

"Well... I remember his hippogriff nearly ripped Malfoy's arm off, so..." Seth said, smiling sleepliy.

"He's awesome," Emily decided, and then started in on her toast.

"Who's that?" asked Matt as he, Melody, and Rachel took a seat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Yeah... I haven't seen him before..." Rachel said.

"That's Hagrid," said Melody with an unreadable expression on her face, "He's the real Care of Magical Creatures Teacher."

"Is he... er... a good teacher?" Matt asked.

"He's lenient..." Melody said, "But not much more than that. He's... well, he's not the best.

And he sometimes brings in beasts he can't handle. Draco Malfoy almost lost his arm to a Hippogriff."

"Oh..." Matt said, giving a look to Hagrid, and turning back to his breakfast.

"Whose that?" asked Caitlin as she and Jo waited for their friends to arrive.

Jo looked up from her cup of coffee and looked shocked and angry. "That's Hagrid, the worst Professor ever. He doesn't know anything about his subject, Care of Magical Creatures, and Draco almost lost his arm in the 3rd year thanks to that great oaf." 

"Wow... that's so stupid. How can they let him be a teacher?" Caitlin asked, giving Hagrid a filthy look.

"Remember, Dumbledore runs this school," Jo said, rolling her eyes.

"Good point..." Caitlin said, before continuing on her own breakfast.

The next day, the entire 5th year struggled through the snow down to Hagrid's cabin for

the first Care of Magical Creatures lesson from Hagrid. Matt was worried, Emily was excited, and Caitlin was annoyed. As they and their friends made their way down to the edge of the forest, and saw Hagrid standing next to half a cow carcass, their said emotions grew stronger. Matt looked scared, Emily looked excited, and Caitlin's comment of: "Wow, teaching us about dead animals..." was accompanied by a look of smugness.

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called, turning towards the forest as the students arrived. Matt froze in his tracks, allowing Melody to bump into him, "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark..."

Caitlin heard Malfoy mutter something, and the rest of the Slytherins, the class really, had stopped. With an impatient sigh, she continued, and then, slowly, everyone else followed. When they entered the forest, Matt, Seth, Emily, Melody, Caitlin, and Jo, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, were all a considerable distance ahead of the rest of the class. They walked quite a distance into the forest; the snow was almost non-existent back here and the trees were close together.

"Gather roun', Gather roun'," he finally said, setting the half the cow body down, "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' meat, but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me..."

He followed this statement with a loud cry, much like a monstrous bird. Matt looked terrified, Emily found the call amusing. Caitlin just froze. Then, the Americans saw, out of the corner of their eye, a pair of white, shinning eyes, and then a dragonish face, neck, and skeletal body of a great, winged horse. Each was torn between amazement and fear as the monsters approach. However, many of the class, including Seth, Melody, and Jo, didn't see it.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" Hagrid said happily as another one came out behind the first, "Now... put yer hands up, those who can see 'em..."

Matt, Emily, Caitlin, Harry, Neville, and a Slytherin boy Caitlin didn't know raised their hands.

"Yeah... yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he said, sounding much more serious,

"An' you tooo, Neville, eh? An'... I'm afraid I don' know who you three are," he added, indicating the Americans, who were on pretty much opposite sides of the class.

"Excuse me," Malfoy sneered, "But what exactly are we supposed to be seeing."

Hagrid pointed to the carcass, where the meat was being ripped away and, to those who couldn't see the winged bird-things, disappearing into thin air. Melody, along with all the Slytherin girls, gasped and shrieked. Seth's eyes widened. The others were all speechless.

"What's doing it?" Blaine asked, looking horrified, "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," said Hagrid, proudly. The Americans looked as confused as ever, but had no time to ask questions, "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows...?"

"But... they're really, really unlucky!" squeaked Parvati Patil, "Professor Trelawney..."

"Shut up, Parvati," Emily said, and she fell silent with a furious look at Emily.

"Tha's jus' superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! 'Course this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate... an' here's another couple, look..."

Even more thestrals were showing up. One passed Emily, who stroked it. The thestral turned it's head sharply, but didn't attack. Caitlin also stroked one, who stopped to enjoy it. Jo gave her a nervous look, and she stopped. Matt just backed into Nate as one passed him.

"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," Hagrid said to Matt, as Nate shoved him forward, "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' you can see them an' some can't?"

To no one's surprise, it was Hermione who answered, "The only people who can see thestrals," she said, "are people who've seen Death."

"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points to Gryffindor. Now, thestrals..."

_"Hem, Hem"_

Matt, Emily, and Caitlin all whirled around. Professor Umbridge was leaning against a tree, clipboard in hand, and was wearing a look of smugness on her face. No one, except the Slytherins, took this as a good sign.

_"Hem, Hem"_

"Oh, hello!" Hagrid said, smiling at Umbridge.

"You, received, the, note, I, sent, to, your, cabin, this, morning?" asked Umbridge in a slow, loud voice, as though she was speaking to a mentally retarded person. Matt forgot his fear and immediately turned angry, "Telling, you, that, I, would, be, inspecting, your, lesson?"

Caitlin, even though she was great friends with her Slytherin roommates, still didn't like Umbridge. However, her friends convinced her Hagrid was worse, so she had to side with Umbridge on this one.

"Oh, yeah," Hagrid said, "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see... or, I dunno, can you? We're doin' thestrals today..."

"I'm, sorry?" Umbridge said loudly, cupping her hands to her ear and frowning, "What, did, you say?"

"Er... _thestrals!"_ Hagrid said loudly, "Big... winged horses, you know?"

He flapped his arms hopefully, and Umbridge smirked.

"_Has... to... resort... to... crude... sign... language..."_

Emily turned to face the teacher, "He said "WE'RE DOING THESTRALS TODAY!" she shouted at Umbridge who looked taken aback.

"20 points from Gryffindor," Umbridge said smoothly, and turned back to Hagrid, leaving Emily more infuriated than before.

"Well... anyway..." Hagrid said confused by Emily's outburst, "Erm... what was I sayin?"

"_Appears... to... have... short-term... memory... issues..._"

"Oh, yeah," Hagrid said, throwing a nervous look at Umbridge, who was still grinning and writing. Matt lost his patience with the toad, so he pointed his wand into the forest and muttered something. Melody, Blaine, and Nate gave him strange looks, but he shook his head and turned back to Hagrid.

"Are, you, aware, that, the, Ministry, of, Magic, has, classified, thestrals, as, dangerous?"

"Thestrals aren' dangerous!" Hagrid said, "All righ'... they MAY take a bite outta you if yeh really annoy them..."

_"Shows... signs... of... pleasure... at... idea... of... violence..."_

Seth, this time, spun around to face Umbridge, "Come on! A DOG will take a bite out of you if you piss it off. Students might do the same, _MA'AM_."

"A further 25 points from Gryffindor," Umbridge said, grinning widely. Caitlin and the rest of the Slytherin's all smirked, "Please, continue, teaching, as, usual. I, am, going, to, walk…" she mimicked walking "-among, the, students-" she pointed to some members of the class, one being Matt "-and, ask, them, questions." she mimicked talking this time.

Hagrid nodded, completely confused as to why Umbridge was using sign language. Emily attempted to trip Umbridge as she passed, but she missed. Matt looked angry as she moved towards Pansy Parkinson, as Hagrid tried to continue with the lesson.

"Do you find," she said to her, loudly, "That you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"

Pansy and the rest of the 5th Year Slytherins barely contained laughter as she replied, "No... because... well... it sounds like grunting a lot of the time!" she shrieked with laughter and couldn't stop.

Then, Umbridge turned her toad-like face on Matt.

"You can see thestrals too, can't you, Warren?" she said, writing something on her clipboard, "Whom did you see die."

"I really don't think that's any of your business," Matt said, bluntly, "But if you must know, I saw an entire planeload of people crash. Over 300 Muggles died."

"And what do you think of them?" Umbridge said, a muscle in her face twitching when Matt snapped at her.

"I think they're... well... they're kind of..." Matt said, searching for the right words.

_"Students... are... too... intimidated... to... admit... they're... frightened..."_

"NO!" Matt shouted, making nearly everyone take a step back, "I'm not frightened, it's just this is my first lesson and I've never seen thestrals..."

"It's quite alright," Umbridge said, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Matt said coldly, backing into Blaine this time.

"Well, Hagrid," Umbridge said, turning to him after throwing Matt a dirty look, "I, think, I've, got, enough, to, be, getting, along, with. You, will, receive-" she started into the ridicules sign-language again, but Emily got there first.

"You'll get your results in 10 days time, Professor Hagrid," Emily shouted, shutting Umbridge up, for a moment.

"30 points from Gryffindor," she said, smiling widely, and she started away from them. As she made her way, however, 20 or so frogs started hopping out of the forest jumping after Umbridge as she walked towards the castle. Nearly all the Slytherins were in stitches, and Matt smiled at his own handiwork. Emily nodded her approval; Seth gave him a look of satisfaction, while Caitlin didn't make eye contact with him."

December seemed to take forever to arrive. Also, the bits of magic ability the American's had shown at the beginning of the school year had somehow warn off. They all found it harder to do well in their classes, especially Charms, Transfiguration, and Divination.

In Transfiguration, Matt had been barely making E's recently, while Emily and Caitlin were just getting A's. The spells were getting harder and Matt, Emily, and Caitlin found it harder to do any of them. In Charms, the wand movements were more complex, and, like Matt, Caitlin could only get E's, while Matt and Emily got the A's. Emily found it harder to mix the Potions she had to make, and found that the correct amounts weren't always the right ones. She was also getting an E average, while Caitlin was hovering between A and P. Matt was hovering between D and T, and he knew he'd never pass this class. In fact, the only classes that weren't changing for them were Astronomy, where they did all manage to keep O and E averages, in Herbology where they were getting A's, and History of Magic, where they were getting A minuses. However, Divination and Defense Against the Dark Arts left a lot to be desired. All 3 were failing those classes miserably (Matt, not so much, he had a P while the other 2 had T's).

That's why they were all looking forward to the Christmas Holidays, even though the Americans weren't as close as before. Even Matt and Emily were drifting apart. Matt had begun to spend more and more time with his Ravenclaw roommates and Melody in particular. Emily and Seth started to become inseparable, while Caitlin and the Slytherins continued to terrorize the 1st years. While Matt and Emily went to DA meetings, Caitlin and her friends strutted around school, just because they could. Their Dungeon Raids were nearly nightly now, and Caitlin's grades continued to slip, except in Charms.

One day in particular was a day of opportunity for the lot of them. The Christmas holidays were just a day away, and the 3 Americans were in different parts of the castle.

Emily had used the morning with Seth to catch up on some of the Potions homework Snape assigned. It was dull work, looking up ingredients on everything they'd covered this term. Worse, for Emily, Snape and all the other teachers had given them packets to research on some of the more important things they'd missed the first 4 years. The most brutal was, of course, was the Potions one, but Emily had still managed to do most of it already… but she hadn't done any of the other packets. Oh well. As for Seth, he wasn't worried about any of the classes, but at Emily's urging did his Potions with her.

It was about ½ way through the morning that Seth looked up, having remembered something he'd meant to ask Emily.

"Hey, are you going to try-outs today?" he asked, looking over at her.

Emily, who had just been filling in a chart on how certain Antidote ingredients nullified Poisons, looked up. Yes, ever since Harry and the Twins had been kicked off the team, Emily had 2 things on her mind: Get on the team and Get back at the toad. She hadn't heard anything about try-outs, but yes, she did plan on attending, "Yeah, I was…"

"Good. They're at 4 today, so you should be able to get most of the work done. I'm trying out for Beater," he said, now copying of Emily's chart.

"Me, too," said Emily.

"Er… I wouldn't advise it," Seth said, "Don't get me wrong, I know you're strong, but there's a few 7th years that want to try-out, and they're all pretty tough…"

"Fine, fine, I'll be a Seeker," Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"Good. Well, it's almost noon, and I have detention," Seth said, throwing his stuff in his bag and walking away.

"What'd you do?" called Emily.

"Something about being careless with a Transfiguration Spell," Seth called back, "I only turned a kid into a skunk, so I don't see the big deal. I'll meet you at the Pitch."

"Alright, see you later," Emily said.

An hour later, Emily had finished the Potions homework they'd been assigned, after working on it for 2 straight days. She also got a few more pages in the 30-page packet she'd been assigned. It wasn't perfect, but it was enough for her. She decided, grudgingly, that she might as well do some Charms. Professor Flitwick HAD been helping her, Mini, and Matt lately, since they'd been having a harder time with their magic, so she figured the least she could do is do his work. When she got a couple of the essays and worksheets done, she did a few spells on her books. However, Madam Pince wasn't happy about that.

"NO MAGIC IN THE LIBRARY!" she shrieked, just before she herself charmed Emily's books to fly at her and chase her out. Emily countered the spell and the books fell to the ground, and she gave the Librarian the evilest look she could.

"10 points from Gryffindor," Madam Pince said, "Out!"

Emily left and prowled around the corridors the rest of the afternoon. She passed by the Transfiguration Department, but Seth wasn't their. Neither was McGonagall, so Emily figured he had Detention somewhere else, or it was over. At 3:30, she returned to Gryffindor tower, but there was still no Seth.

So, at 4, she struggled to the Gryffindor Quidditch Pitch with 6 other Gryffindors. She didn't know 4 of them, all boys, but she did know Ginny Weasley, and they chatted while the Chasers and Ron finally showed up. Angelina looked rather sadly at the only 2 Beaters there, but brightened slightly at the fact that there were 4 Seekers. Emily wondered where Seth was.

"Well... since you 2," she pointed to the boys, "Are the only Beaters, you are automatically on the team... now let's seeing some Seeking."

"But… Seth McGuire was going to try-out…" Emily said, looking confused and wondering where Seth was.

"If he shows up before the practice ends, I'll allow him to try-out, but for now, these 2 are the Beaters," Angelina said, "Now, Seekers?"

The first to try-out, a third year boy Emily didn't know, flew after the Snitch, but after 15 minutes he hadn't caught it. That turned into 30, then 45. Emily alternated between watching the Snitch, and looking around for Seth. Finally, Angelina, who had been watching the Snitch for about 5 minutes, called him back down and said that he had done a pathetic job, but thanks for trying.

Next came Ginny. Fred and George had been watching from the stands, and they clapped and cheered when Ginny went up. In fact, without other distractions, Ginny caught the Snitch in less than 15 minutes. Emily seemed impressed and knew she'd have to go all-out to beat her.

Third to try out was a 6th Year Boy, and he did okay, caught it in 30 minutes, but Angelina shook her head, and said that since Ginny had a better time, she'd have a spot on the team. The boy accepted this graciously and decided to stick around for the rest of the practice. Emily was starting to get annoyed with Seth, and gave up hope of him coming. It was her turn anyway, so she had to put Seth out of her mind for a minute.

She flew up as the Snitch was released. Then the snow blinded her for a second, and she lost sight of the Snitch. But, she saw it flying near the goal posts a minute later, and tore after it. The Snitch evaded, and suddenly the sun blinded her again, but then disappeared behind the clouds. This little game went on for over 20 minutes before Emily caught the Snitch in a spectacular jump through a hoop. Everyone cheered for her, but Angelina's mind wasn't made up.

"Ginny, Emily, I want you both to do a head-to-head Snitch Chase. I'll release it and the first to find it is on the team," she said.

Emily and Ginny nodded, wished each other luck, and watched the Snitch fly away and disappear. On Angelina's whistle, they both shot into the air, Emily faster because of the Scarlet Falcon. Both searched for a few minutes, and then Emily spotted it, right near Ginny's side of the Pitch. She shot after it, while Ginny dove. Emily got in close, the Snitch turned away from her, so she tore in front of Ginny, but Ginny recovered. Both of them flew closer and closer to the Snitch, arms extended...

"Yeah!" Emily closed her hand over the Snitch, and landed hard in the snow, ending on her back, but she had got the Snitch. She was on the team.

"Good job," Ginny said, grinning and helping Emily to her feet.

"Brilliant!" Katie Bell squealed.

"Great job!" Alicia Spinnet commented.

"Welcome to the team," Angelina said, shaking Emily's hand, "But we'd better go to the DA meeting... come on."

Seth waited around the corner of the stadium. Emily suddenly appeared, completely ecstatic about her victory. Seth shared in her enthusiasm, saying that Gryffindor was sure to win.

"Wait a second... why didn't you try out for Beater? Only 2 people showed up..." Emily said.

"I was... er... 'hung-up' by a Slytherin Prefect... I think he might've got his finger out of his nose by now..." Seth said, grinning.

"Ah... I see," cackled Emily as they headed to the D. A. Meeting.

Matt had spent almost all his morning doing a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay in his dormitory. He had only kept up the work because, he thought, one way he could get back at Umbridge was give his points of view in an essay. In fact, he'd gone over the line a few times and insulted Slinkhard's teachings. Despite the many P's and D's he'd been getting on the essays, he continued to go all-out on them. This one was a review essay of the term about everything between Chapters 1 and 25, so he was almost on 20 inches by 11:30, with just a half-hour before lunch.

His friends had been checking in on him all day. Like the other Ravenclaws, all of them had gotten most of their holiday homework done already, Matt too. They were also doing Umbridge's homework, but just to keep passing grades so Sinistra didn't freak. They'd also been helping Matt, who was still finding it hard to do most of the magic class work... but not History of Magic and Astronomy-ish things. But, despite their help, Blaine, Nate, Terry, Jack, and Dakota had been teasing him about doing extra for Umbridge.

As he finished the 20th inch, and was finally wrapping it up, he heard the dorm door open behind him. He turned, expecting to see one of his roommates leering at him, but instead, to his shock, it was Melody. She smiled and took the chair from Blaine's desk and took it over to where Matt was sitting... and now blushing.

"What are you doing? You haven't been out of your dorm since breakfast," she said, sitting next to him, gazing at the parchments.

"Just Umbridge's assignments... trying to get back at her my way," Matt muttered, starring very hard at the _wand-usage_ he'd just written.

"Really? I don't ever do half of that," she said, gazing at the parchment, too.

"Yeah... well..." Matt said, throwing glancing at her, and seeing she was blushing slightly, too.

"So... um..." Melody said, trying to think of something to talk about.

"Yeah, I..." Matt began.

Then the door banged open. Matt and Melody both turned around to see Jack, leaning against the door, a huge grin on his face.

"Woo-hoo, Matty," he said, shaking his head, "Such a wild one, aren't you?"

Matt and Melody both flushed at this, and Matt muttered something along the lines of "Sod off," which made Jack roar with laughter.

"Anyway," he said, "Sinistra's looking for you in the Common Room. Better hurry. I'll leave you to alone now," with one last smirk, he walked off.

Melody and Matt, still blushing furiously, glanced at each other.

"Well... erm... I better go," Matt said, standing up to leave.

"Yeah... I'll... just read the essay thing you wrote, see how good it is," Melody muttered, moving to read it.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Matt said, and ran down to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

When he entered, he saw Jack talking to his other roommates. They were all grinning, and when they saw Matt, they started laughing. Matt blushed again, but walked over to Professor Sinistra, who was helping a 2nd year with her Herbology.

"Matt," she said, looking serious, "Professor Umbridge would like to speak with you.

You'd better hurry, and mind yourself around her."

"Right... but, I didn't do anything," Matt said, looking frightened.

"I don't doubt that. Just be careful around her, okay?" Sinistra pleaded. She was really concerned for her students… or at least showing the school she was as good a Head of House as Flitwick had been previously.

"Okay, I'll be careful," Matt said, as he walked out of the room and into the corridor.

So, it was out into the corridor and up a few floors until he reached Professor Umbridge's Office. He didn't have the slightest notion what he was in for, though, so he slowly pushed the door open. The Technicolor kittens were still playing around, basking in the winter sunlight. Professor Umbridge was sitting behind her desk, smiling sweetly at Matt. That immediately told him he was in trouble.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Matt said, trying to be as kind as possible so as not to lose more house points for Ravenclaw.

"Yes, Mr. Warren, sit, sit," she said, indicating a chair across from her desk.

"Mr. Warren…" she began, after Matt had taken a seat, "Your essays… can you explain them?"

She showed him 5 pieces of parchment, all with large P's on them. Each was from the various essays he'd written lately, and all were extremely long. Matt figured out what the meeting was about at that time.

"Well, I've done what you asked, and the essays, I mean…" Matt began.

"Yes, well, what's this right here… _hem hem_," Umbridge used her fake cough and picked up the longest essay, " 'while Mr. Slinkhard thinks that wands are only good for cleaning, transfiguring non-human objects, and various charms, _I_ think that wands can be dead useful in situations where you must protect yourself with them.' What do you mean, Mr. Warren?"

"Well," Matt said, "If you're cornered by, say, a Dark Wizard or a Dementor or any other Dark Creature, using a wand will…"

"But haven't I assured you that you have no danger of being attacked in my class?" Professor Umbridge said, sweeter than ever.

"Well, yes, but you can't be with us all the time," Matt countered (Thank god… he thought), "And, say, if we meet a Lethifold in the middle of Puerto Rico…"

"And what do you mean by 'Dark Wizard?'" Professor Umbridge queried, leaning forward. Matt recoiled.

"I mean, well, there's always Lord Voldemort…" Matt began.

"HOW DARE YOU?!?" Professor Umbridge exploded, "How dare you spread that lie?!? You believe Mr. Potter and all his nasty little friends about that? There is NO DARK LORD! It is a fib, a lie, one that Dumbledore will use to get the Minister out of office! NEVER say his name in my presence, or mention him again!"

"Sorry," Matt said, trying to keep his own temper, so much shorter these days, under control, "I just meant…"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU MEANT! YOU'RE A NASTY LITTLE LIAR, A NASTY LITTLE WRITER, YOU ARE THE NASTIEST PERSON, NEXT TO POTTER, IN THIS SCHOOL!" Umbridge shrieked, tearing Matt's essay up as she spoke.

Matt didn't bother to control himself this time, "You, madam, are the nastiest teacher in this school. Damn Toad."

It wasn't much of a comeback, but he ran out of the room, hurt and infuriated, before Umbridge could scream her sentence at him. He ran as fast as he could, tripping down the stairs, flying down another, passing Peeves, Professor McGonagall, and knocking into Hermione Granger outside the Library, spilling her books. He was so hurt by her words. Anytime someone insulted his writing, he got really emotional about it.

He made it to the Ravenclaw Common Room, bleeding on his arm, knee, and nose from the stair fall. He dashed through it, so fast that the others got cranked their necks to get a glimpse of him. He ran up the stairs to the boys dormitories, dashing into his own. Melody was still in there, reading Matt's essay. She jumped when Matt entered, and gasped when he ran over to the desk, seized his essay, and tore it into many, many pieces. Then, he broke down and lay his head on the desk, extremely upset. Melody sat next to him, and put her arm around him.

"What's wrong, Matt?" she asked, kindly.

"That foul, evil, disgusting, menopausal bitch Umbridge is what's wrong," Matt said, wiping his eyes, "She's evil, twisted, and I just wish she'd get cancer!" He then relayed his story of what happened, and Melody's eyes got wide. She shared his anger, and wished death on her, too.

"But now I've gone and lost us more points!" Matt cried, still very upset, "I wouldn't be shocked if she gets rid of 300 or so."

"Don't worry, you'll get them back in Transfiguration when term starts again," Melody said, trying to cheer Matt up. It didn't work.

"Yes," Matt sighed, "But… I guess another reason I'm so upset is that school is becoming so much harder for me. I mean, I was doing great at the beginning of the year, and now… it's just so hard. I think I'm losing my powers."

"Don't say that," Melody said, shaking her head, "I noticed you were having a harder time, so I talked to Sinistra. She thinks the reason you, Emily, and Caitlin are having such a harder time is that you've had all this magic built-up from the years you haven't gone to Hogwarts. When you began, you used up that extra magic powers slowly, and now you're really relying on yourself, and this is your real potential."

Matt glanced up, "How did she figure that out?"

"She talked to Dumbledore," Melody smiled, "But don't feel bad. Everyone in the Year is finding it hard to keep up with their work, even us Ravenclaws. It is O.W.L. year, after all, and I find it weird that they'd make you take the O.W.L.'s with only a year schooling, but.."

"It's not as if life is fair," Matt sighed, "I just hope everyone else isn't pissed at me for this," he lay his head back on the table.

Melody responded with a quick kiss on his cheek. Matt's head shot up, and he looked at Melody, not able to talk right away. She smiled sweetly, and Matt smiled back. His anger and hurt forgotten, he put his arm around Melody and kissed her back.

Caitlin hadn't tried out for Quidditch, or been shouted at by Umbridge. Instead, she and her Slytherin friends were once again on the grounds causing trouble. Mateo and Zacharias were now lying in the Hospital Wing with various injuries due to Caitlin and Malfoy's second attack. Both figured it was worth the 20 points and detention Sprout had taken from them for it.

Even Slytherins have playful sides. The girls were locked in a furious snowball fight with Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Caitlin was charming snowballs to fly around Malfoy, hit him, explode, and return to snowballs and do it again. She was finding it harder and harder to do her Charms everyday, though. It was as if she was losing her powers, but Jo had assured her that it was the stress of "those damned O.W.L.'s" So, with that thought in her head, she continued the snowball fight, where the girls eventually won because it was 6 against 3.

"How did you do that?" Malfoy asked, as they headed for the lake.

"Oh, you know, just a little charm I know…" Caitlin said, trying to sound modest.

"Yeah, sure, you know all the charms, but you don't know any Dark Arts," teased Malfoy.

"Is it my fault this idiotic school doesn't have a decent curriculum?" Caitlin asked, sounding annoyed.

"Huh?" Goyle said, blinking at the long word.

"Goyle, shut up," Malfoy said, "Honestly, it's a wonder they didn't chuck you out! You're so stupid, a troll could write a better essay than you."

Everyone, except Goyle, chuckled at this. Caitlin didn't think it was THAT funny, but rather amusing anyway. When they got to the lake, Caitlin performed a Slippery Charm on everyone's shoes and boots. Then, they were gliding across the ice… well… Malfoy, Caitlin, and Jo were at least. Everyone else was sort-of falling around.

"Man… is Umbridge great or what?" Malfoy said as the Slytherins drank some stolen Butterbeer on the banks that afternoon. They had just seen the Gryffindors heading down to the Pitch for the new try-outs, "I mean, Potter was our only real threat for the Quidditch Cup. With him gone, we'll have no problems. None of those others can Seek to save their lives."

"If the Gryffindors win the match against Hufflepuff, though, we might still not have a shot," said Jo, who had been keeping scores of the games since Year 1.

"Like that'll happen. With Weasley Keeping? Ha!" Pansy said, having drunk about 3 already and becoming slightly tipsy.

"Pansy, maybe you shouldn't drink so much…" Ashley said.

"I'm FINE," Pansy sputtered, and fell face-first into the snow. Shaking their heads, Millicent and Ashley helped Pansy to the Hospital Wing.

"She does that all the time," Malfoy said, chuckling, "She's so stupid with drinks like that."

"You don't know the half of it," Jo said, standing up, "I'm gonna go make sure she's not got Butter Poisoning again. Be back later."

Jo walked through the tall snow. Crabbe and Goyle's stomachs growled, and they decided that they needed food, so they went up for an early dinner. That just left Malfoy and Caitlin.

"So, Murphy, you enjoying Slytherin through your first term?" Malfoy said, moving to sit next to her.

"Of course. Who couldn't enjoy the only house worth being in?" Caitlin replied.

"Yeah, and Snape makes things so much easier on us," Malfoy added, looking at Caitlin.

"But, I'm just a bit worried about my O.W.L.'s and stuff. I mean, Charms and Potions will be kind of easy and all, but Transfiguration, Divination, and Astronomy will be more difficult for me."

"I just wish they'd TEACH us the Dark Arts, not just the Defense rubbish," Malfoy said, "It'd make it so much more worth-while. Not that I need a class in it, I know quite a few nice Dark Spells."

"Ooh, will you teach me?" Caitlin begged.

"Well… I don't know," Malfoy said, playing with her mind a bit, "I don't know if you can handle it…"

In response, Caitlin whipped out her wind at snake-like speed and pointed it at Malfoy's chest, "Can't I?"

Malfoy grinned, "You'd be an excellent dueler with the right training. Fine, I'll teach you one every Slytherin should learn. _Serpensortia_ is the spell. Here, allow me to demonstrate."

Malfoy took out his wand and pointed it at the lake, "_Serpensortia_!"

A snake burst out of his wand, and slid on to the ice. It was a King Cobra, and it hissed as it spun out of control towards a pack of Gryffindors. They all freaked out and tried to get away from it. Malfoy chuckled darkly, "Pity it missed them," he said, dryly.

"So is there anything I have to visualize or whatever for this spell?" Caitlin asked, watching the Snake slide further and further away.

"Each Snake is different, depending on the person who casts it. I'd like to see yours, probably a harmless Gardner Snake," Malfoy smirked.

Caitlin turned to the lake, visualized a snake, and cried "_Serpensortia!_"

Her own snake burst out of her wand and slid onto the ice. She saw it was a Rattlesnake, and it rattled angrily as it slid past the Gryffindors again. It went further and further away, towards the other. About that time, the Giant Squid reached up and pulled them both into the water.

"Dammit," hissed Malfoy, "Oh well. Not bad, though. Rattlesnakes are pretty sweet."

"Teach me more!" Caitlin insisted.

"Not in broad daylight," Malfoy said, "The other spells, well, some of them anyway, are forbidden in Hogwarts, so we'd have to do them in private somewhere.

"Okay, fine, be that way," Caitlin said, feinting anger.

"Hey, if you want to be thrown out, go ahead and do that," Malfoy said, shrugging, "I'm just trying to protect us."

"Whatever," Caitlin said.

"Come on, it's time for dinner," Malfoy said, leading Caitlin to the Great Hall. Caitlin came to the conclusion that she liked Malfoy, while the Giant Squid spit up the exoskeletons of the snakes in the lake.

The Holidays finally arrived, which meant no more teachers or classes, but lots of homework. Another bonus was that about ½ the castle cleared out for the holidays, and there were far fewer people than usual. Emily and Caitlin like this because it meant less snot-nosed 1st and 2nd years. Matt liked it because it meant he and Melody could actually have some time alone in the Ravenclaw Common Room.

After a bit of discussion with their friends, all three of the Americans decided to stay at Hogwarts. All 3 used the same excuse on their families: O.W.L.'s, and students needed time at Hogwarts to practice. Of course, they weren't planning to do anything of the sort, but they didn't feel like explaining why they were going to stay at the castle.

In fact, Emily was the only one in her entire dorm; Parvati, Lavender, Hermione, and the other girls were leaving, and Seth only had to share his dorm with Dean Thomas. All of the girls and guys in Slytherin stayed at Hogwarts, to the delight of Caitlin. The only Ravenclaw to leave Matt's dorm was Terry, but all the girls stayed (to no complaint from the guys). Everyone now knew that Matt and Melody were going out, even though Emily thought Melody was a bit too preppy.

The castle was beautiful, as always. The decorations were up, holly and mistletoe hanging everywhere, reefs were on every door, there were giant Christmas Trees in the Great Hall, Entrance Hall, and flanking the doors. Hagrid was busy making a pathway with snow-covered hedges, lighted with Fairies, while never-melting icicles hung from every banister. The Americans were all very impressed, although their Hogwarts friends seemed a little bored.

"They had about 3 times this much stuff when Durmstrang and Beauxbattons were here for the Tri-Wizard Tournament," Melody said, as she and Matt watched the snow fall in the Great Hall.

"It was much better," Seth had informed Emily while the 2 had some fun shooting spells at the fairies one evening.

"But if you ask me, there were way too many decorations," Malfoy sneered, knocking a few bulbs off a Christmas tree as he past.

Another thing, there was another announcement pinned up at the House Message Boards. There was to be a ball on Christmas Day, much like the Yule Ball that played their last year. Everyone was pretty excited about it, and even more-so when they learned it was casual-dress, as in no Dress-Robes, which all the guys were thankful of.

Matt and Melody were obviously going together, and Caitlin received a shock when Malfoy asked her to accompany him (Pansy was very jealous of this, and didn't speak to Caitlin the rest of the night). Seth and Emily eventually asked each other to go, even though neither REALLY wanted to go.

Christmas dawned upon them bright and early. There was still about 3 feet of snow on the grounds, with more falling overnight. The Americans woke up at various times (Matt awakened a few hours earlier than he would've liked when the other guys started a duel). So, as he deflected a Jelly-Legs Jinx aimed at him, he looked to the foot of his bed, where there was a small pile of presents.

He smiled and went for them, the small greedy part of him taking over. He ducked another jinx and opened the first gift. It was from his parents, and it was a 2nd wand, this one a beautiful, silver color. Matt was perplexed at first, but the note (and picture) enclosed gave him the details.

_Dear Matt,_

_We've been getting _The Daily Prophet _delivered from England, as well as a special _U. S. A. This Evening _from America. A new study we learned in both of these said wizards should start carrying 2 wands with them at once, because wand-thefts are on the rise. They recommended this 'Arcadian Wand' because it retains the properties of the wizard's current wand. According to its manufacturers, this wand is particularly good in Elemental Spells, those with fire, water, and the like. Not only that, but it has the uncanny ability to sense lies coming from people, and it vibrates slightly when it's pointed at a liar. It also has very unique searching abilities, and if your other wand is stolen, this one will find it for you._

_We miss you and love you, we wish you'd come home, but we wish you luck on your O.W.L.'s (you still haven't told us what that means)._

_With Love,_

_Mom, Dad, Chris, Hunter, Rolly, Tiny, Kitty, and Little Grey_

_P. S. We brought Little Grey in! From Chris._

Matt looked at the wand again. He grinned at it, trying to remember to tell Emily and Caitlin about this. As Nate took refuge behind Matt's bed, Matt moved out of the way as Blaine shot another Jinx at him. He moved on to the other packages. The next came from Melody, and he tore this one open eagerly. He was speechless. It was one of those Quidditch Boards where you can pit your teams against others. He grinned and set it aside as Blaine and Jack really got into it, barely a foot apart.

Dakota suddenly reared up and shot a curse that knocked the hangings of Jack's bed down and basically destroyed Nate's desk chair. Matt still ignored them and moved on. His next present was from Emily. She sent him a heaping stack of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and he munched on them while turning to the last few parcels, various bits of clothing from his other relatives.


	6. Chapter 6

He frowned and looked around, trying to find one from Caitlin. He didn't, and shrugged, thinking she either forgot or hated him now. The entire Ravenclaw house had taken part in some crazy "Secret Santa-type thing" and drew names form their year to give presents to. Matt had gotten Blaine, so he bought him a package of Muggle Sporting Equipment (a basketball, a baseball and bat, soccer ball, tennis racket and ball, and volleyball) along with a book that explained each on in detail, along with the rules. There had been a strange mix-up for Matt, however, and he ended up getting Luna Lovegood as his "Secret Santa-type-thingy." She outdid herself, however, and got Matt a small bag made of Moke skin. Matt grinned, knowing that his money and small, personal effects would forever be safe, mainly because Moke Skin bags can vanish at will.

About that time, Matt was hit with a _Melonfors_ spell from one of the guys. His head now turned into a pumpkin, Matt sighed, pulled out his wand, un-transfigured his head, and joined the fray.

Caitlin also woke up early, though not to the sounds of a duel. All the other girls were asleep, except Jo, who was sitting up in bed, writing in her diary. Caitlin waved, to show she was awake, and asked the time.

"8," Jo mouthed, before returning to her journal. Caitlin nodded, and stretched. 8 on Christmas Day. She had a date with Malfoy this evening. There was no classes or teachers (especially no Umbridge)… Caitlin figured this would be the best day of her life. She lay back down to get a little more rest before her roommates woke up, but that was rudely interrupted when Pansy let out a great, loud grunt in her sleep that woke all the others up.

"Jesus, I hate it when she does that," Ashley said, fumbling for her alarm clock, "8:09 in the morning? Oh well. Presents!"

The other girls, even though they weren't happy about being woken up so early, figured they might as well open their presents now. Pansy also woke up, and tore into hers. Caitlin had a fair-sized stack. Slytherin hadn't done that stupid Santa-Thingy, but everyone had still given gifts to their friends. Caitlin looked at theirs, first.

Ashley's gift consisted of candy. Lots of it. She'd given giant packets of it to everyone. Pansy had given them 2 6-packs of butterbeer each, with gift certificates for free ones in Hogsmeade. Millicent had given everyone either a Slytherin bracelet, necklace, or ear ring. They all had a serpent on them, and were a beautiful silver. Jo had gotten everyone a book on something they'd probably enjoy, as well as a journal of their own. Jo liked to write, but her writing was the dark, dismal type. It was more reality and stuff. All the journals had a specific pattern on them so they wouldn't be mixed up. Josephine had put her knitting skills to the test and made scarves and mittens for everyone. This would've been a good source of teasing, but Caitlin had put a complex charm on them that made them lash out at anyone but the owner. Caitlin had a hard time deciding what to get everyone, but eventually decided upon magical music boxes with music by everyone's favorite groups, including the Weird Sisters, who seemed to be very popular with 90 of the student population.

Caitlin's journal was a cover of diamonds of silver and green. Her bracelet was embroidered with the Slytherin Serpent all around. Her package of candy was ready to be eaten. Her beautifully made scarf and mittens were hanging on her bed-post. The 2 cases of butterbeer were sitting by her bed, on which the book on Hippogriffs Jo had given her sat. She started into her other presents. The first was a package was from, to her shock, Malfoy. He'd sent her a book on the Dark Arts, with a note warning her not to let ANYONE see this. She hid the book right away. With only a few parcels left, she saw one from Matt. She frowned, slightly, and opened it. It was a small model of a real hippogriff, which yawned, stretched and stood up, in all it's beauty. Caitlin was touched deep in her soul, but because of the influence of her Slytherin friends, she wasn't thankful enough to consider giving Matt a present in return.

Putting it on her bedside table, she checked her very last packages. To no surprise, most of her family had enclosed various bits of clothing, for which she was thankful (she did need some new clothes). Her Mother had also enclosed a nice bit of money for which she could spend during the next Hogsmeade visit. Raven even made a holiday appearance. He'd been following Caitlin for quite a while now and was slowly becoming friendly. He was actually letting her touch him… in moderation. She stroked him for a few minutes, before going to see everything Jo had gotten.

Emily woke up at 11 that Christmas Day, not having to deal with noisy snoring or dueling at 5 in the morning. Fully rested, she sat up, stretched, and had Red Wing immediately land on her. He, too, was becoming much friendlier, but Emily still had trouble with him lashing at her and not obeying her at times.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Red," she muttered sleepily, then spotted her own heap of parcels and instantly woke up. On top, she saw a bunch of boxes from her family. It mostly contained clothes, but at least they were black this year. She also got quite a bit of money to spend in anyway she wanted. She carefully inspected the black shirt and pants they'd bought, and figured they'd be great for the night's ball.

She moved on. From Seth, there was a complete set of Wizarding Mystery Books that he figured she'd enjoy. Hermione had given her a lot of books on Potions, and Emily felt a slight twinge of guilt for not giving her anything. She took the next package, a smaller one from Matt, and inside was a real figure of a phoenix (complete with tears to heal parchment cuts, Matt had written). The bird flew around a bit, and Red Wing looked ready to attack it, but Emily told him no and he stopped. The phoenix landed on her bedside table and didn't move.

There wasn't anything from Caitlin, not that Emily cared or expected one. Instead, to her shock, there was one from… Melody, too. (What's with these people giving me gifts? Emily thought). Inside, there was a really awesome Potions kit, including new, phials, a beautiful cauldron (Standard Size 3, the table-top kind), and a collection of Potion ingredients, some of which weren't usually accessible for the students. Emily was completely grateful, although the guilty twinge was still rising. First Hermione, now Melody… honestly.

She went downstairs a few minutes later, to an empty Common Room. Emily figured everyone was either at breakfast or outside where more gleeful shouts were coming from. Almost as soon as she came downstairs, she heard footsteps, and turned to see Seth coming downstairs, still looking sleepy.

"God, it's 11:30 and you're _still_ tired?" Emily said, as Seth walked over to her.

"Hey, I was up till 3 working on my goddamn Herbology homework," Seth grumbled.

"I was up till 4 on it, and I got up ½ an hour ago!" Emily said, shaking her head, "If we hurry, we might be on time for breakfast…"

However, as they headed downstairs for breakfast, they ran into Professor Umbridge. Literally. The tubby tyrant toad slammed into Emily, who jumped back, recoiled, and shivered.

"Do watch where you're going, Miss Davis," Professor Umbridge sang, and moved on, a weird smile on her face.

"… that was scary," Seth said, looking slightly frightened.

"Ugh… I touched her… shoot me," Emily said, looking aghast.

"I think someone's going to be sacked. With Trelawney on probation… and Hagrid's not far behind," Seth sighed, "It'll be interesting who goes first."

"Considering Trelawney hasn't been doing a good job at teaching, freaking out over the smallest things and STILL predicting our deaths, I doubt it. At least we can give it up after this year, thank God…" Emily said, walking down the Marble Staircase.

"And Potions," Seth added, "I know I'll fail there."

"Well… I don't know," Emily said, "I think I'll continue taking it, just so I can prove Snape wrong."

"Right," Seth said, "Fine, I'll try it, too, but I won't make any promises."

"I didn't say you had to do anything," Emily said, as they walked into the Great Hall, just in time for Lunch.

"Proving Snape wrong will be fun, though," Seth said, sitting down at the almost-vacant Gryffindor table.

Emily nodded and started in on her lunch.

Matt walked out of the passageway from the boy's dorms into the Common Room, all of their injuries from the duel repaired. He was almost immediately attacked by Melody, who threw her arms around him. He could see she was wearing the solid gold necklace he'd bought for her. She was ecstatic about it and the books Matt had bought her. The girl clung to him for a moment, then stepped back, while most of the people sort-of glanced at them, some grinning, some looking a bit embarrassed.

"I can't wait for the dance tonight," she sighed, "It's going to be wonderful!"

"Yeah, it will be. Not that I'm any good at dancing," Matt added, as the two walked out behind the other 5th years as they moved to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Well, you never know," Melody reasoned, "Maybe no one in this entire school can dance."

"Jack can't," Blaine grinned, "You should've seen him trying to dance yesterday…"

"Blaine, you've got 2 left feel when it comes to dancing," Jack retorted.

"…. WAFFLES!" Matt suddenly cried.

Everyone in the corridor turned to look at him. Matt blinked, "Wow… didn't think it'd work that easily…"

"You're crazy," Lisa Turpin giggled, arm-in-arm with Jack, who was still glaring at Blaine.

"Can't we all just get along?" sighed Melody, "Honestly, it's a wonder the two of you haven't flattened each other or something…"

"No, I did that," Nathaniel said, "I used that spell that uses a hand to squash enemies in our duel…" all the guys glared at him, but it was too late. The girls spun around, "What duel?" they asked, eyes narrowed. Nate looked embarrassed.

"Nothing," Dakota said, another furious look at Nate, "We just…"

"Had a duel at about 5 in the morning, which basically tore apart our whole dormitory, and everything," Matt said in a bored voice, rolling his eyes. The guys turned their glares to him. The girls seemed torn between amusement ("And you didn't invite us?!?" Melody joked, feinting anger) and horror ("If Sinistra had caught you!" Mandy said, angrily).

"Don't worry," reassured Dakota, "She favors us like Snape does the Slytherin's, so it wouldn't have been so bad."

"Yeah, come on, let's go eat," Padama Patil agreed, dragging Nate forward. He turned to grin and wink at the other guys.

Caitlin met Malfoy in the Common Room. Of all the houses, the most students that had gone home were from Slytherin, nearly 2/3 of them were gone. That meant she and Malfoy would be able to practice some of the Dark Arts without getting caught. Speaking of Malfoy… he'd walked out just about the same time as Caitlin. He grinned at her as she strode over to him, looking like she didn't care.

"I rarely even use this word, but thanks for those awesome book on Dark Animals you got me. Don't do much reading, but watching those Muggles get eaten and mauled is pretty interesting," he grinned.

"Yeah, whatever," Caitlin said, "Oh, and your present was okay. I liked the sound of that Artificial Bogart Spell. It'll be fun to see everyone's worst fears."

"Where are the rest of the girls?" Malfoy asked, looking around.

"Who cares?" Caitlin said, brushing slightly against Malfoy as she walked to the Entrance, "I'm hungry and it's lunch time." She glanced back at him, and he followed her out.

"So, did you have a good haul?" she asked.

Malfoy snorted, "When haven't I? My parents are so rich I could buy this god-forsaken school if we wanted to. But it's not worth the trouble, so we just save our money for… other purposes."

Caitlin sighed, "Yeah, and I suppose you're not going to tell me what these 'other purposes' are, right?"

Malfoy looked slightly uncomfortable at this. "Well… not _exactly_. Not yet, anyway. You'll learn in due time."

Caitlin shook her head, "Whatever."

They made their way past Snape's Potions Classroom. Caitlin glanced inside, but Snape wasn't there. They continued on, passing various Slytherins milling around in the dungeon.

"Hurry up," Caitlin said as she strode up the stairs, Malfoy swaggering behind her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Malfoy said, speeding up slightly, "Slow down, what's the rush?"

"Oh, nothing, just really hungry," Caitlin said as she emerged from the Dungeons passageway.

"You're starting to sound like Crabbe and Goyle," Malfoy smirked, but then he looked a little shocked when Caitlin whipped out her wand and spun around, quick as lightning.

"I really don't think you meant that," Caitlin said, a smile coming to her face.

"Be careful, Murphy, you might get burned…" Malfoy also grinned.

Caitlin stowed her wand, laughed, and headed into the Great Hall, where everyone else was already eating.

That night, the Americans were all ready for the ball. Matt met Melody in the Common Room. Matt chose a red t-shirt, along with denim shorts. Melody chose a short-sleeved, blue blouse with a dark denim skirt. In Gryffindor, Seth and Emily had decked out in as much black as they could manage, including sunglasses. As for the Slytherin couple, Malfoy and Caitlin, Caitlin wore green-sparkled jeans and a silver t-shirt, while Malfoy wore black pants and a silver, long-sleeved shirt.

Almost all the school headed into the Great Hall, which was set-up with about 50 tables that could seat 12. The Head Table was the only normal thing about it. As for the center, it was a giant dance-floor, with a raised platform at one end. On the platform, a few instruments sat, and everyone chatted excitedly. For the 2nd year in a row, Dumbledore had booked the Weird Sisters to play!

They walked to the stage with tremendous applause from all the students, each wearing their usual clothing, artfully ripped and torn, but in Christmas Colors. The leader introduced them to the crowd, and then they started a fast, lively tune that everyone began to dance to.

Matt and Melody felt very stupid dancing around to the music. The other Ravenclaws were all around them, doing their own versions of the dance. Jack was dancing with Lisa Turpin, both dancing dangerously around the floor. Dakota was break-dancing with, to everyone's shock, Rachel Younger, who proved herself to be an excellent dancer. Blaine danced closely with Mandy Brocklehurst, while Nathaniel was twisting with Padama.

Emily and Seth weren't dancing. They were standing against the wall, looking repulsed at the idea of it. Instead, they looked to see what teachers were dancing and with whom. It amused them to see Sinistra with Snape, both looking like they were really enjoying themselves, while Dumbledore danced with Professor McGonagall. Professor Flitwick was doing some strange step with Professor Sprout, as Professor Vector was dancing with Professor Trelawney, her beads and shawls flying around. Above the crowd, the ghosts, including Professor Binns, did, what they considered, a dance of some kind. But both were very pleased to see Professor Umbridge had no one to dance with. Finally, they decided to leave, mainly because the dancing was over-rated.

Caitlin and Malfoy had split up from the group. They knew Pansy and Millicent had dragged Crabbe and Goyle onto the floor, and were doing something that resembled a no-contact wrestling match. Ashley, Josephine, and Jo were going along the walls, dancing with every couple of Slytherin boys they came to. Jo finally found keeper, a 7th year they didn't know, and she and him disappeared into the dancing crowd.

Malfoy had taken Caitlin right into the center of the Slytherins. It was a little awkward because Caitlin was about 3 or 4 inches shorter than Malfoy, but she felt much, much taller to be dancing with him. They even pulled off a few difficult moves, although they did have a hard time with a few of them. Finally, the song ended and everyone applauded the Weird Sisters. Malfoy started to walk to the door, and Caitlin followed, deciding she was done dancing, too.

Seth and Emily had been walking along the path of fairy-lighted bushes. Luckily, many of the students decided they'd rather dance inside then be out in the cold snow. Despite the fact they were wearing thin clothing, the cold didn't bother either one. As they rounded a corner, they stopped dead and made looks of disgust. Many of the Hufflepuffs were basically sitting along the path and rose bushes, making out with their girl-friends (some doing more). They turned to leave, but then they heard a disgustingly familiar voice.

"Hold it," came the accented voice of Mateo. The let go of his girl-friend and drew out his wand, then walked towards the 2 Gryffindors, who immediately prepared for battle. Zacharias Smith also walked up to them, along with a third boy they didn't know. The other Hufflepuffs quickly ran down the path a while before resuming. Mateo, Zacharias, and the 3rd boy all drew their wands.

"We figured out how you won that last duel. _Repellio_, correct? Nice tactic. Now how do you think you can do with us knowing it?" he said, and they suddenly figured out who he was: Jeremy Morgan, one of the most annoying boys they'd ever met.

"Yeah, so now what you gonna do?" sneered Zacharias, his arms folded in that annoying fashion.

"Get ready, here we come," Seth said, and he and Emily started firing.

From a few meters away, 2 couples were watching with interest. The first, Caitlin and Malfoy, were snickering at the feeble spells the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were throwing at each other. The other couple, Professors Sinistra and Snape, were also watching with interest. Professor Sinistra seemed a bit concerned, but Snape assured her that they couldn't hurt each other too badly. So, they stood back and watched the fight unfold for a few minutes, before they made their move.

"_Expelliarmus!" "Stupefy!" "Reducto!" "Impedimenta!" "Wingardium Leviosa!" "Repellio!" "Melonfors!" "Flipendo!" "Petrificus Totalus!" "Locomotor Mortis!"_

Each of the duelers used their favorites. Neither side was really winning that much, until Emily and Seth blasted through Mateo's _Impedimenta_ spell with a well-placed _Stupefy_. He fell to the ground, out for it, so it was a fair fight. Seth took a spell to the face, and got blasted back, and when Emily turned to see what happened, Jeremy hit her with Locomotor Mortis, locking her legs together. She overbalanced and fell, while Seth snarled and let loose a very blast of some unknown spell from his wand, which knocked both Hufflepuffs back about 12 feet. He helped Emily up, but about that time the others got up and fired two more spells at them.

"_THAT WILL BE ENOUGH!_" snarled someone, coming onto the path. To everyone's horror, it was Professor Snape, along with Professor Sinistra. Both looked furious.

"I have never, in all my years, seen such a display of Dueling as you all have just shown," she shouted, "I think 10 points from each of you, along with detentions, will do you all well!"

"Morgan, Martine, and Smith, you will all be in my dungeons on the first day of term," Snape said, "Professor Sinistra, kindly see to these Gryffindors."

"I will. You two will be cleaning the Owlery on the first day of new term, also," she said, "Back inside, all of you."

Emily and Seth glared at both of them, hating them beyond reproach. Slowly, they made their way back to the castle. Emily and Seth headed right for the Gryffindor Tower, not speaking. Once there, they grabbed some books, headed into the Common Room, sat by the fire, and read.

Caitlin and Malfoy doubled over with silent laughter as Snape and Sinistra shouted at Emily and Seth. Caitlin was trying to catch her breath when Malfoy stood up straighter.

"Good evening Professors," he said, barely containing a snicker.

"Mr. Malfoy… and Miss Murphy, I see. Are you enjoying the… proceedings?" his lip curled at the last word.

"Yes, sir, very much so. It's turning out to be a great evening," Malfoy said, also grinning.

"Just be sure not to be out past Midnight," warned Professor Sinistra, "You know what happens when Filch catches out-of-bounds students."

"No worries, Professor," Caitlin assured her, "We'll be back in time."

"Good evening, then," Snape said, leading Sinistra back towards the castle.

"She must be happy," Malfoy said, once they were out of ear-shot, "Snape and Sinistra… what a cute couple."

"I gotta admit, though, them together could be really good for us," Caitlin said, as they walked towards the dark lake.

"Ugh… so much for privacy," sighed Malfoy, "Those idiot Hufflepuffs are by the lake… shall we… make this interesting for them?"

"With pleasure," Caitlin said, "_Serpensortia_."

The rattlesnake slid quietly through the grass, finally reaching the area the Hufflepuffs were in. Then, someone spotted it and let out a shriek. Everyone suddenly caught sight of the snake, and completely spazzed. They all ran in different directions, smashing into each other, the trees, and the bushes, all in an effort to get away. Caitlin and Malfoy roared with laughter, collapsing onto the path.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Malfoy gasped, "I never, NEVER saw Hufflepuffs run so fast!"

"Yeah, well," chuckled Caitlin, finally getting her laughter under control.

"You're pretty good. I can't wait until we do some of those curses…" Malfoy said, drawing closer.

Caitlin, blushing now, didn't reply. Malfoy moved closer to her, so close she couldn't see anything but his face…

Matt, along with the other Ravenclaws, spent the whole night in the Great Hall. A few songs into it, Matt and Melody got used to dancing, so they jumped and moved around to the music in the best way they knew how, even though it really resembled a seizure, rather than dancing. Jack and Mandy were slowly getting dirtier with their dancing, until tiny Professor Flitwick cheerfully told them to tone it down a bit. Dakota was still dancing with Rachel, while Nate and Padama, along with Blaine and Lisa, lapped the whole dance hall while dancing.

Melody moved closer to Matt, resting her head on his shoulder. Everyone else basically paired up. They danced around, Melody steering while Matt just tried not to over-balance. The rest of the song was basically like that, until it ended. Then, the Weird Sisters' leader moved to the microphone again.

"We've had a special request for this Irish tune!" she cried, "For those who know the dance, get up and jig!"

Melody grinned and dragged Matt forward. They were the only ones who really felt like doing the dance, so the Weird Sisters kicked up an Irish tune. Matt and Melody, who had been practicing it when not doing their work, immediately joined in. They stood in front of the whole school and danced for everyone, getting faster as the music became faster. They started to spin around in a whirl of color, everyone clapping along with the song. A few other people joined in the dancing, but not in the center where Matt and Melody were. The Weird Sisters got much, much faster and it was all the 2 teens could do to keep up with the beat. They sang flawlessly, no matter how fast the music got, the Ravenclaws danced flawlessly, and right at the end they froze in a stance. The entire Great Hall erupted into cheers and the Weird Sisters clapped for Matt and Melody, who bowed.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Matt said as they went to get a drink while the next song was played.

"Yep. I figured this would be the best place to show it off," she smiled, "But if we don't stop yapping, we'll miss the rest of the dance, so hurry up and drink your butterbeer."

Matt nodded and minutes later they were back out dancing. The rest of the night, the Ravenclaws bunched up and danced with each other, everything from Western music, to jazzish, more Irish, and Rock, and basically every music imagineable except Polka, Rap, and Disco. At Midnight, the entire hall gave them one last, loud, round of applause and they trooped off the stage, into the antechamber. The students then slowly filed out, Matt walking back with Melody. They reached the Common Room, and everyone said goodnight. Matt hugged Melody close, saying, "I had a great time tonight." She nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and went into the Girl's passageway to their dorms. Matt smiled and slowly walked to his own dorm.

Many of the students spent the rest of the Christmas vacation busy with homework. For the 5th years especially, it was crucial that they get good grades. O. W. L.'s were approaching, and the Americans got more and more nervous about them with each day's passing. Matt spent all the holiday practicing Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts spells, and any other type of magic with Melody. Emily and Seth, though he only did it half-heartedly, practiced Potion making. Emily found she was getting better when she realized that Potions wasn't really magically involved, so that was a boost. Caitlin had even convinced her friends to test Charms with her, reminding them that if they didn't pass the O. W. L.'s, they might end up in Mis-Use of Muggle Artifacts office. This, added to the new mini-lessons Malfoy had been giving her for Dark Arts, physically drained her so much that, by the end of the holidays, she hadn't done as good a job as normal on her assignments.

When term finally began again, everyone in the D. A. (and the Slytherins learned from Malfoy) that Harry had to take Remedial Potions, so D. A. lessons would be strained for a while. Most people accepted that, but when Emily first heard it, she and Seth shot each other ½ quizzical, ½ annoyed looks. They **KNEW** Snape would NEVER give extra lessons, _especially_ to a Gryffindor. Much less Harry, who everyone knew Snape hated. So, Emily decided she'd try and find out herself what was going on.

But, when classes began again, the workload increased to another terrifying level. Many students were kept well past midnight working, and Matt and Emily actually found themselves skipping a couple of D. A. lessons every now and then to do homework. Caitlin, to, was sometimes abandoned by her friends and left sitting alone to do her own. She didn't mind, because her new boyfriend, Malfoy, was always there… even if it meant Crabbe and Goyle were usually around, too.

Not only that, but something had turned up just days after the term began. Emily and Seth were sitting near Ron, Harry, and Hermione again, and although they had shared a few conversations with the trio, Emily didn't consider them friends. On the day in question, Emily had taken the seat right next to Hermione, Seth having just arrived. When the post arrived, Hermione gave a strangled yelp. Emily choked on her cereal and looked at Hermione, who pointed to the Daily Prophet for everyone. Emily gasped.

**MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN**

**MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT"**

**FOR OLD DEATH EATERS**

"Black?" Harry said loudly, "Not-?"

"Shh…" Hermione whispered with a terrified look at Emily, "Just read!"

Though it wasn't directed at her, Emily read.

The ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.

Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.

"We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped," Fudge said last night. "Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out from Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached.

"There you are, Harry," said Ron, "That's why he was happy last night…"

Emily didn't know or care what Ron was talking about. She just glimpsed Matt walking in with Melody and his other friends, and reached for the paper.

"Hermione, can I borrow this?" she asked quickly.

"Sure, just the front page, I want to read on," Hermione said, and Emily took it from the rest of the newspaper, and she and Seth ran to the Ravenclaws.

Matt had just walked in with Melody, Blaine, Padama, Nate, Lisa, Mandy, and Jack. They were all laughing at one of the many jokes Jack had told, and were about Umbridge as usual. They laughter stopped as Emily and Seth arrived, both looking stricken, even for them. She thrust the newspaper into his hands and Matt blinked.

"Huh?" he asked, looking at the paper, and gasping. The others crowded around behind them, looking at the paper and reading it for themselves. Rachel, who had been waiting for them, also wandered over to see what the commotion was. Everyone looked extremely worried.

"Who are these people?" Matt asked, pointing to pictures of Bellatrix Lestrange, Augustus Rockwood, and the others. Seth and the other Ravenclaws' faces clouded over.

"They're terrible, terrible people," Melody said solemnly, "They're almost as bad as You-Know-Who. His lead followers, you might say."

"Wow… that's terrible," Matt said, fear in his voice.

"Those jerks…" Emily muttered, reading for what each was responsible for. Bellatrix's caught her eye, but she didn't say anything, in case she was wrong.

"Excuse me," came a loud, drawling voice from behind the group, "Get out of the way, you're blocking the door."

It turned out to be Malfoy, along with the rest of the Slytherin 5th years. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws realized they were in the way, so they moved, giving angry looks at Malfoy and Caitlin, who were giving looks of disdain to them.

"Wonder what everyone looks so nervous about," Josephine commented as they took their seats. Almost every face in the Great Hall looked worried or serious."

"This," said a Slytherin 6th year they didn't know, throwing a Daily Prophet copy at them. They all stared at it, and Malfoy laughed. The rest of the Slytherins, like their table, seemed somewhat excited by the news. Caitlin knew why Malfoy would be excited…

The night after term had began, Malfoy and she had snuck out at around 11 at night. Caitlin had just finished a really long Transfiguration report. They moved deep into the dungeons, about a 10 minute walk from the Common Room. It was damp down here, and smelled a bit moldy. That was quickly taken care off by a quick Drought Charm from Caitlin.

Malfoy had continued to teach her various Dark Arts spells, including another like _Serpensortia_, in which a Scorpion comes out to attack the person. That was when he spoke completely randomly.

"I know I've never told you this, but my Father is in with The Dark Lord," Malfoy smirked, "And he told me something good will be happening soon… something that will benefit all of us pure-blood wizards."

There was a fleeting thought that she wasn't a pure-blood with, but due to the fact that she'd been with Slytherins so long, she sometimes forgot she was, in fact, a Muggle-born.

"I suspected that. You gonna join him when you get out of school?" she said as their scorpions fought.

"Hell yeah. No greater honor for us," Malfoy said as Caitlin's tore off the head off his Scorpion, "You and I will, together."

"I don't think I will. Not right away, anyway," she added, quickly, "I want to get a job in a place I can be useful, a place like… the Ministry of Magic. I'll get well-known for a few years, get people to trust me. Then I'll join."

"… excellent idea, Murphy. Our ranks could use people like you," grinned Malfoy, kissing her on the cheek.

Now, Caitlin felt elated that the Death Eaters had escaped. She had herself convinced that these were the 'right' people, the people she should be with. Between her Slytherin friends, and Malfoy, she'd almost completely forgotten that she was just an American teenager, not a pure-blood witch. So, they all discussed, in low voices, the possibilities this new break-out showed for them… not that any could be directly effected by them.

Days later, and quite predictably, the only known conversation in the halls were of the Death Eaters that had escaped Azkaban. It wasn't only the students, either. In fact, at almost every corner, one could see a group of teachers talking about something, but breaking off when the students came close. And there was a perfect reason why.

----------By the Order of----------

**THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.

_The above is in accordance with_

_Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six_

"Well… that's stupid," Matt said, frowning, "So that means you could misbehave and not get in trouble for it… they couldn't tell you off for it!"

"Wrong," Mandy had muttered, arm-in-arm with Jack, "Anthony Goldstein said that Lee Jordan had tried that on Umbridge and he got detention."

"Dang," Matt said, snapping his fingers.

Knowledge also spread that Trelawney and Hagrid were both on Probation. That meant that many people had to endure seeing Umbridge at least once a day (and 3 times a day for the unlucky ones, worse when it was Double Periods). However, whenever she went outside for the Care of Magical Creatures class for the 5th Years, something strange happened. She was always followed back into the castle by no less than 30 or so frogs, something that infuriated Filch and Umbridge, although no one knew who the culprit was (except the Ravenclaws and Emily).

As for the Hagrid and Trelawney themselves, they weren't putting up a good fight. The Probation thing really unnerved them. Trelawney became hysterical at the smallest thing, and it didn't help with Umbridge interrupting every few minutes and demanding she do a Crystal Ball reading or answer a pointless question about Tea Leaves. Hagrid was also extremely nervous, which caused him to forget what he was saying ½ way through the sentence, answer questions wrong, and basically do… everything wrong, really.

Matt felt sorry for both of them. Emily felt sorry for Hagrid. Caitlin joked that perhaps they'd both be sacked, which all the Slytherins also prayed would happen. Neither teacher was well-liked or respected in that particular house. The Ravenclaws would almost agree, even though they all agreed that if they HAD to keep one as a teacher, it should be Trelawney because Hagrid was just stupid as a teacher. Matt somewhat agreed, but he hoped Umbridge would just croak (which cracked quite a few people up when he said it, and he realized the pun they saw in it) before she sacked them.

January slowly faded into February. The colds that always plagued Hogwarts were rampant once again, with about 2/3 of Hogwarts' students and staff getting sick in a one week period. Emily was the only American to get it. However, among the teachers that DID get it, well… Snape got it the worst, which spelled trouble for the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in Potions.

Just after the beginning of February, 3 people in his class were having serious problems. Neville, Matt, and Harry were trying to do another version of the Snake Reflex Potion, still continuing on the Enhancement Potions Unit. Matt was having huge issues getting it to turn the acid green it should've been, Neville was just completely doomed, and Harry spent more time glaring at Snape then paying attention to his Potion. That's what led to the new Seating Arrangement.

"LONGBOTTOM!" roared Snape, his voice hoarse from his flu, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY IS PINK???"

He turned and saw Matt, his Potion a blue, "BLUE?!?"

When he saw Harry's was green, he coughed, but Harry accidentally added something extra, and his turned orange, "POTTER!!!! ARGH!!!"

Snape was furious. He must've been hurting really bad because he literally strode over and threw their cauldrons onto a desk at the back. Neville, Harry, and Matt exchanged quick glances and stared at Snape, who was breathing heavily. He pointed to the desk and, slowly, Neville, Matt, and Harry moved to it. He snarled, "You will remain there the rest of the year!" Before he returned to his desk to take some Pepper-up Potion.

Matt blinked and looked at Harry and Neville and smiled very slightly. Neville looked horrified and was just starring ahead, and Harry was glaring at Snape with all his might. The others eventually turned back to their work, leaving the 3 in the back in silence. By the 3rd day, however, they had begun to talk to each other, even though Matt and Neville talked to each other more than Harry.

"I hate Snape," snarled Harry one day, as Snape praised Malfoy's work again.

"Ugh… I wish he'd die," Matt sighed, stirring his cauldron and giving up when his stirring spoon broke. It had hardened again.

"I'm terrified of him," Neville said, shakily, as he was having similar problems, although his was more like wet glue than anything.

"Harry, I feel especially sorry for you, Remedial Potions and all…" Matt muttered, but realized that was the wrong thing to say, "I'm sorry… I should've brought it up."

"It's alright," sighed Harry, Matt knowing he wanted class to end.

"Oh no," squeaked Neville, "Here he comes."

Snape approached, looking at the cauldrons. Words seemed to be beyond him as he massaged his throat, and he just waved his wand. The contents of all 3 cauldrons disappeared and he shook his head, indicating there would be no marks given to them.

Matt blushed, his stomach and heart plummeting. It didn't help that the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were laughing at him, too, and he felt like turning Zacharias into a cow… but knowing him, it'd go wrong. Oh well. He actually reached for his Arcadian wand, and then he remembered he was supposed to tell Emily about that over a month ago. He waved to get her attention, and she turned, mouthing "WHAT?!?"

"I need to talk to you after class," mouthed Matt back.

Emily sighed. She, too, had been affected by the flu. Seth had it so bad that he didn't even go to class, so she was sitting next to Hermione and Ron. She nodded, and turned to see Snape facing her. She inwardly groaned and coughed. Her head pounded, but she refused to take the Pepper-Up Potion.

"Miss Davis," he said, hoarsely, "In my class, you face forward and pay attention. You have detention Thursday night and I'm taking 10 points from you."

Biting her tongue so as not to say something she'd regret, Emily stared at him in a furious silence. He smirked and hacked off, and she threw another furious look, this one to Matt, who seemed mortified that he'd gotten her in trouble. He glanced at Harry's watch. Still ½ hour to go before class ended, too. Neville was sobbing quietly into his arm and Harry was just being idle, so, bored, Matt decided to try and take up a conversation with him.

"So… erm… how was your Christmas?" Matt muttered, making sure Snape was busy.

"Oh…it was… alright," Harry said, seeming to suddenly come out of a reverie, "Erm… yours?"

"It was… great. The dance was fun, but I didn't see you or any of the Weasleys there," Matt added, "nor Hermione."

"We were… er… somewhere else for Christmas," said Harry, an edge to his voice, which told Matt he didn't want to talk about it.

"Oh. Cool. Um… so… how are your Remedial Potions classes going?" he asked, but went from bad to worse when Harry grimaced, "Never mind. When's the next D. A. meeting?"

"I don't know," said Harry coldly, clearly annoyed with Matt.

"I… I'm sorry," stammered Matt, "I just…"

"No," sighed Harry, "I'm just having a tough year is all…"

"This sounds weird, Harry," Matt said, "But if you need someone to listen, and I know I don't know you well and all, you can just talk to me."

"…… Thank," he muttered, "I just might need that sometime."

"Anytime," Matt said, relieved that Harry was at least talking okay.

"Erm… you… uh… like Quidditch?" Harry asked, seeming to try to apologize for his rudeness.

"Yeah… I tried out for the Ravenclaw team, did bloody well, too, but I ended up not making it.." sighed Matt.

"You know what happened to me. Umbridge kicked me off," Harry said.

"Have you noticed those toads and frogs that seem to follow her around all the time?" Matt said.

"Yeah… she's a magnet to them," Harry said.

"Thank you," Matt said, bowing slightly.

Harry grinned at this, and laughed, "Not bad. You'll have to tell Hermione that spell."

"I hate to break up this little conversation," said a hoarse, cold voice behind him, "But Potions class is NOT the time to chat. 10 points from each of you."

Snape had stood right behind them while they talked. He gave Matt a curious look… almost amused, but then he swept away to go insult Seamus' Potion, which was rather good, actually.

With one more glance at Harry, Matt put his head down and waited for class to end.

Caitlin, Malfoy, and Jo had been sitting at the front of the class, as always, and chatting. Jo seemed a lot happier lately, but Caitlin couldn't figure out why. She had a hunch that it had a lot to do with her new boyfriend, that guy… what was his name… Dean… Capulet or something. He was a 7th year, and Caitlin didn't trust him. Jo was madly in love with him, however, and she endured her continuing intimate chats about him only because she did the same to Jo with Malfoy.

Malfoy was bragging and telling Caitlin some stories about his childhood, while the girls listened. Then Jo decided to tell a few, mainly how her brother had captured a Muggle who had given him trouble at the Muggle School their mother forced them to attend before Hogwarts, well, anyway, he took the Muggle to their house and beat him to a pulp, then cursed him so bad that he turned him into a slug. They all laughed about how Jesse had to defend himself, yet still got a large fine for which his mother flogged him.

Caitlin didn't tell them any stories. She had taken on a "my past is too dark and I don't feel like talking about it" approach when it came to her childhood. They respected that, because many Slytherins were like that. Caitlin secretly wished her parents had been wizard and witch so she wouldn't have to hide it from Malfoy and Jo, and she was ashamed of her heritage now.

Her mind had been with the Slytherins so much that it was warped. She hated Emily, Matt, and especially Harry Potter. Harry had yet to do anything to her, but she loved Draco, and Draco hated Harry. And Hermione. And any Weasley. Perhaps, deep down, there might've been something that told her she shouldn't hate them, but by now she was a true Slytherin and everything else seemed secondary. She hated Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. She hated Potter, Granger, Weasley, and now she even hated Emily and Matt. To make matters worse, she also was starting to forget she was a Muggle-born, and was thinking subconsciously that she was a full-blood witch.

"As usual, Potter screws up," Malfoy sneered, loudly, "And we'd hardly expect anything less from half Squibs and American Mudbloods."

Snape continued past Malfoy, without a word. Normally, his lip would've curled or something of the like, but he was too sick. Caitlin felt sorry for him, but she continued on her work. Her Potions had become considerably better, but were nowhere near Hermione or Emily's standards.

"Heh… Harry Pothead…" she muttered to herself for no apparent reason. Malfoy cracked up, and Caitlin grinned maliciously, "One of my favorites."

"Hey, Pothead!" Malfoy called. Harry glared at him, but went back to staring at his empty cauldron. The Slytherins all laughed again, and kept glancing at the back table to see if they had any reaction.

"I can't wait for the Hogsmeade Trip on Valentine's Day," said Josephine as they slowly got back to work.

"Yeah, I'm going with Crabbe," Millicent said, arm-in-arm with him. He grinned stupidly and nodded.

"Goyle's much better," Pansy argued, also clinging to Goyle's arm.

"Heh, I got you both beat," Caitlin said, laying her head on Malfoy's shoulder. He stroked her hair lovingly.

"Wrong. None of you are going with a 7th year," said Jo, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah, Dean's a real prize," snorted Caitlin, "Dean Capulet… how original a name!"

"Just because you're jealous and insulting doesn't mean I have to stoop to your level," Jo retorted.

"Your Potions should be boiling now," Snape said, hoarsely, ending all conversation for the rest of the period.

The next night, Emily proceeded to Snape's dungeon after dinner. She was hardly feeling any better, and nothing helped that she hadn't seen Seth in 2 days and that she was about to spend a God-forsakenly long time with Snape. But, when she got to his office at quarter after 6, she already heard voices. The door was ajar, so she snuck a peek inside. To her horror, Harry and Snape were facing each other with wands, when Snape bellowed: "_Legillimens!"_

Harry seemed to suddenly get an excruciating headache. He doubled over a little bit, holding his head. Snape was saying things like "you're not trying, Potter!" and "The Dark Lord will easily have his way with you!" She wanted to spring to Harry's help, but something restrained her. A minute or two later, Harry fell to the floor, and Emily gasped. Then, he slowly stood up.

"Potter, this is pitiful," Snape snarled, "This is the 3rd Wednesday in a row that you haven't been able to do anything right!"

_Wednesday?_ thought Emily, _Ah, hell, I got the wrong night! Great, now I gotta… well, I guess I'll just make sure Snape doesn't hurt Harry. I knew he couldn't be taking Remedial Potions…_

For the next half an hour, she watched as Snape cast the spell over on him, again and again. Each time, Harry fell to the floor. She wondered what was going on. At about quarter to 7, Snape seemed to give up.

"It's hopeless, Potter," Snape said, angrily, "You may leave early tonight."

"Right," said Harry, grabbing his bag and moving to the door. Snape disappeared into a different room.

Emily had no chance to move, let alone hide. She was just turning when the door opened and light spilled out into the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked in amazement. His face was mingled with surprise, anger, and fear.

"I was… I… I thought I had detention, but I got the wrong night," said Emily. It wasn't like her to stutter excuses, but the shock of what had been going on hadn't left yet.

"How long were you watching?" Harry inquired further, the look still on his face.

"Quite a while. God, I thought he was killing you," Emily said.

Harry grinned ruefully, "Yeah, that might be better. Well, since you know, I might as well tell you. It's Occlumency Lessons, which means…"

"I know what it means," said Emily, which was ironic because Seth had just explained it to her 3 weeks prior.

"Oh… right… well, Snape is teaching it to me off Headmaster's orders. I know you heard about what happened to me during Christmas and all…"

"No, I can't say that I have," Emily replied, looking startled herself.

"Really?" said Harry, as they started to walk together, "I thought the whole school knew."

"I… don't really pay attention to the gossip in these halls. Reminds me too much of the school I left back in America," Emily said, "I just prefer to hang out and read with Seth…"

"He's pretty cool. He's always been nice to me, didn't believe the rubbish about me in the Daily Prophet all summer. And I've not had a problem with him."

"Yeah, I like him, too," Emily said, grinning.

"Anyways," said Harry, as they emerged from the dungeons and into the Entrance Hall, "I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat. I'll… see you around or something."

"'Kay. Later," Emily said, and she headed for the 4th floor to look for Seth. It was just a few days before Hogsmeade, and she hoped Seth wasn't sick. She thought momentarily about her conversation with him. It had been normal… just like talking to anyone else. She realized that, despite being in his class and everything, he hadn't said more than a few words to him. _Ah well. I just hope Seth is getting better. He must've gotten pneumonia again…_


	7. Chapter 7

The weekend arrived. Seth, Emily and about 90 of the castle were cured of their colds, flu's, and pneumonias. Nearly all the students 3rd year and up were going to Hogsmeade for the Valentine's Day. Matt and Melody had separated from their friends to go alone, Caitlin and Malfoy had done the same. Seth and Emily had walked down behind Harry and a 6th Year girl that they didn't know, but moved ahead as they started to go much slower.

"Where do you wanna go?" Seth asked Emily.

"Um… where _is_ there to go?" Emily said, looking around.

"I heard lots of people talking about this one coffee shop… what was it…" Seth tried to remember.

"Madam Puddifoot's," Emily said, steering him down the other path. The cramped little teashop was sitting between 2 other larger housing units. As they approached, they happened to glance at the sky. It was chilly out, so both tucked their cloaks tighter around themselves, and it seemed like it would rain.

"Perfect. We finally get out of Hogwarts and it rains," Seth sighed as he glared at the sky.

"Eh… it's February, what'd you expect?" Emily sighed, "At least the snow's melting."

"And creating mud that will build up on our shoes," Seth sighed, trudging along.

"You're in such a bright, cheery mood," Emily smirked.

"Why, thank you," he grinned and held the door open for her as they entered. The froze in horror. All around through the cramped room, there were little tables for two, and everything, EVERYTHING was covered in lace or bows. There were little cupid-things hovering above each table and throwing confetti at the occupants, nearly all of whom were in lip-lock.

"Um… no," Emily said, turning and leaving. Seth nodded and followed. They doubted they'd been noticed at all. As they left, they passed Matt and Melody and exchanged a quick hello, before the former ran to Dervish and Banges as it began to rain.

"Uh oh," Matt said as he, too, held the door open for Melody, then Harry and Cho as they entered behind him, "Look at it pour."

"Yeah, that's not good," Melody nodded, not noticing Harry and Cho. When they entered the room, however, they were both rather shocked at the appearance, but more-so at the couples that were in a never-ending kiss.

"Um… let's find a table," Matt muttered, looking half terrified and half embarrassed.

"Right," Melody said, looking the same. The only open table was right in the middle of 2 of the most "romantic" couples, Rodger Davies and a 7th year girl Matt didn't know, and a Hufflepuff boy that was with Eloise Midgen.

"What'll it be m'dears?" asked the stout, little witch after she took orders at Harry's table.

"Er… milk?" Matt asked.

"Same, please," Melody added.

"1 glass or 2?" asked the witch pleasantly.

"Um… 2 I guess," Matt said, while Melody nodded.

"Be right back," she said, and returned with a tray of coffees, but two glasses of milk for Matt and Melody.

"Um… thanks," Matt said, taking their glasses and placing them in front of them.

"I hate coffee," Melody said, looking slightly revolted at how some people were just gulping it down.

"I had it once… well, a spoonful. Which I choked on," Matt said, making Melody giggle nervously. Neither was enjoying the slight moans that were going on around them as the couples continued to kiss.

"Um… so…" Matt said, as he gulped down his milk.

"Yeah…" Melody muttered, trying not to look around at everyone else.

About 5 more minutes passed like that. They weren't paying attention to anyone, and slowly sipped their milks. Finally, when Eloise and her boyfriend were nearly pulled onto the table with each other, Melody stood up.

"I can't take this, I need to get out of here," she said, looking distraught.

"I thought you'd never say anything," Matt said, extremely relieved. He paid for the milks and left a rather large tip, before leaving. Behind them, a scene was unfolding between Cho Chang and Harry Potter, but neither realized it.

"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," Matt said, "God, how could they BREATH when they were like that?"

Melody laughed for real this time. Despite the rain, they had a great time and walked slowly to the Three Broomsticks, almost colliding with Malfoy and Caitlin as they came around the corner.

"Watch it, damn Mudbloods," Malfoy sneered. But, neither of the Ravenclaws heard them. They were laughing about how that place was so much like Umbridge's office.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Caitlin, clinging to Malfoy's arm.

"I have no idea. Where do you wanna go?" Malfoy replied.

"Let's… not go to Puddifoot's," Caitlin said, "I heard it's a public make-out place."

"Those kinds of places make me sick. God, don't people have anything better to do? Or any shame? Or anything for that matter?" Malfoy shook his head as they passed it. It was raining hard, and both were soaked.

"Let's go there," Caitlin said, pointing to a hilltop where an old, creaky house stood.

"Fine, maybe we can hide under a tree or something," Malfoy agreed, and the two made it up to the hill in record time. They hid under a very tall pine tree so it wouldn't rain on them. Malfoy removed his cloak and hung it on a branch so it might dry a bit. Caitlin did the same. It was really peaceful, just sitting there on the hilltop while the rain hit the trees and the ground around them.

"Just like it to rain on today," Malfoy said, stretching out against a tree and staring down towards the Shrieking Shack.

"What an ugly house," Caitlin said, eyebrow raised.

"Shrieking Shack," Malfoy said, lazily, "the most haunted area in Britain. No one can go near it."

"Really? Wow," said Caitlin, lying next to Malfoy. She lay his head on his shoulder, and they sat in silence, listening to the rain fall on the trees. It was really peaceful… and they spent a few minutes just sitting in silence. The rain was pouring hard as ever, and it was getting muddier.

"Caitlin," Malfoy said, shifting to face her.

"Mmm?" Caitlin muttered, looking at a pinecone above them.

"I…" Malfoy said, his face moving closer to hers, "I…"

Caitlin was frozen. She couldn't move, even if she wanted to. Her arm was interlocked with Malfoy's, her head still on his shoulder. He was really close now, and all she could see were his beautiful, blue eyes. He was very close now, his lips, pale but beautiful, were just an inch from hers….

Back in Hogsmeade, Emily and Seth had loaded up on some tricks from Zonko's. Dervish and Banges had supplied then with their new clothing, including Emily's trench coat-ish cloak and Seth's ghetto hat… as Emily put it. In Zonko's, they got 3 cases of Dr. Fillibuster's wet-start, no-heat fireworks, an entire Biting Tea-set, A new version of "Insulting Parchment", Mood rings that gave off different noises and colors depending on moods, and even a few Trick Wands. Having seen a few of Fred and George's around the Common Room, Emily was seriously disappointed with Zonko's.

As they left, stacking the crates carefully in their arms, a figure of a sobbing Ravenclaw girl collided with Emily. She swore and fell into Seth, who dropped one of the crates of Fireworks, which spilled out to the wet street.

"Oh no," Emily said, and they ran for it.

There was a gigantic explosion. Fireworks shot off in every direction, and the sky was illuminated. However, the Fireworks also shot at people and into stores and store windows. People screamed in terror and fled, Zonko's and Dervish and Banges emptied as fireworks flew inside, and still others laughed hysterically on the side-lines. Seth and Emily made their way into an alleyway and hid. When they made sure all the other fireworks and their other purchases were safe, they burst into laughter at what had just happened.

"Oh man, did you see Hannah Abbot and Ernie MacMillan?" Seth chortled, hanging on to the side of the building.

"Yeah! That one firework just wouldn't leave them alone! It was like running the Gauntlet or something," Emily cracked up again.

"Still," said Seth, slowly gaining control of his breathing, "It was a waste of Galleons to let them all go to hell like that."

"Oh, I dunno," came a voice behind them, "I thought they were rather appealing."

"Yes, quite exquisite. Not very well made, of course, but a nice way to spice up a Hogsmeade Trip," came an identical-sounding voice.

Emily and Seth turned to see Fred and George move out of the shadows. They were alone, which was odd.

"Where's Lee?" asked Seth.

"Umbridge. Gave him detention again," sighed Fred, putting his hand over his heart, "We salute his sacrifice."

"And anyway," George added, "We wanted to help you. We noticed you lost an entire crate of fireworks there."

"Yeah, good deduction," said Emily as a bunch of other charges went off and renewed the explosions. They ducked as a few slammed into the bricks above their heads.

"We wanted to make sure it wasn't wasted," George continued, "We have here…"

From behind his back, Fred pulled out a box that was labeled, "Dangerous, Do Not Use." Inside, there were 5 sticks of multi-colored fire-works in them.

"Watch yourself. We're not quite sure what they'll do," George warned as Seth reached greedily for one.

"What are they _supposed_ to do?" Emily asked, peering at a Green and Yellow stick.

"Well, they either explode into large, fire dragons, 5-ft-radial Catherine Wheels, and Portraits of a person who stalks that person," Fred replied.

"Let's try this one…" Seth said, smirking as took the Yellow and Green one Emily was still looking curiously at.

"Not here," said the twins, hurriedly.

"Why not?" asked Emily while Seth withdrew his hand.

"If something goes wrong, we don't want to be responsible for civilian casualties," said George simply.

"Fine, let's go to the Shrieking Shack," Emily said, turning.

"Split up, though," Seth added, "Look. Umbridge is coming and if she catches all of us together, we'll all be blamed for it."

"Good idea," said George as Umbridge waddled down the muddy street as the villagers started to escort the wounded to the nearest buildings.

"Meet you in about 10 minutes," Fred said, cheerfully, as the 4 Gryffindors walked different ways, leaving the carnage behind them.

Matt and Melody sat in the Three Broomsticks, both sipping a butterbeer. The atmosphere was much nicer than Madam Puttifoot's, and there were no couples in lip-lock for more than a few seconds. So far, they hadn't seen any of their fellow Ravenclaws, but they did say hey to Hermione as she walked by to sit at a table near the back of the room.

"Where do you want to go next?" Matt asked, finishing off his butterbeer.

"It's up to you, I guess?" Melody said, smiling.

"How about… I don't know… Honeydukes? I haven't been there in ages and it's been weeks since I had a good bag of Bertie Bott's Beans…" Matt said, stretching.

"Yeah, it's been a whole 3 days. Wow," Melody said, sarcastically, as they took their leave. It was still raining, though not as hard. They trudged along, heads down against the rain, until the couple reached the candy shop. However, it was so packed inside that they finally decided to go somewhere else first. But they didn't know where.

"Let's go singing in the rain!" Matt suggested, happily, skipping ahead to Melody's laughter. They were about in the center of town now, the crowded center of town. Matt spotted Emily and Seth, but before he could get their attention, Melody pointed to a street corner. They saw Cho Chang sitting there, crying. They frowned and moved towards her, but before they could reach her, there was an uproar.

Someone had dropped a crate of fireworks in the street. They streaked everywhere and everyone in town, mainly Hogwarts students, panicked, running everywhere. Matt grabbed Melody and they ran for it, ducking and jumping as various fireworks flew 'round and 'round their heads, while many more set buildings… and people… aflame. The two Ravenclaws ran for about ½ a mile, and, once they were out of danger, they burst into laughter, falling in the streets.

"That was hilarious!" Matt gasped, holding on to a light fixture for support.

"Oh my god! Did you see those two Hufflepuffs? Ernie and Hannah? Do you think the fire in her hair is out yet?" Melody shrieked, falling over in renewed hysterics. Cho was forgotten as they watched the wounded being escorted to a make-shift hospital in Madam Puttifoot's.

"Well, that was really special," Matt said a few minutes later, as they walked past the carnage: personal effects here and there, purchases and such in the streets, burned buildings (which were being hastily repaired by witches and wizards), and even a pair of glasses.

"Yeah, I just hope no one was seriously injured," Melody said.

"I took a quick peak in there, I know Jack and Lisa got it. I don't know if anyone was KILLED, but injured, yes…"

"Come on. We should go back to Hogwarts," Melody said, turning to the road out.

"Why?" Matt asked.

"Most of the stores are in ruin, and we don't want to be around if and when an investigation starts, which will no doubt be lead by Umbridge," Melody said, pointing to the toad as she waddled down from Puttifoot's, a few Slytherins and villagers around them.

"Crap," Matt said as the two quickly ran for it, up the muddy path and following many others towards Hogwarts.

On the hill next to the Shrieking Shack, Malfoy and Caitlin broke apart as the explosions began.

"What the hell?" Malfoy muttered. Fireworks, it seemed, were erupting from the distant village, into the sky, buildings, and people. It seemed mass hysteria had broken out as people ran everywhere.

"I wonder what that was…" muttered Caitlin, sitting up and glancing back.

"It looks like fireworks have gone off in the village… dear me, I hope no one was hurt," Malfoy said sarcastically, his lips curving into a devilish grin.

"Look… it seems as if all of Hogsmeade is evacuating," Caitlin laughed. Out the West and North sides, Hogwarts Students fled for their lives, while Villagers ran this way and that, and still the fireworks went off. Finally, the booms subsided and the panic ceased.

"How entertaining. And unexpected," Malfoy said, sitting back against the tree. Caitlin, however, remained standing. She thought she saw some people walking down the path. She groaned. It was Emily and Seth… of all people.

"Look who is joining us…" snarled Caitlin as Malfoy stood up again and looked around. Through the slight fog that was forming in absence of rain, he saw the other 5th years. Again, his lips curved into a grin.

"I think we should… surprise them," Malfoy said, smirking again.

"Yes, we should," Caitlin said, eyes narrowed. Her hatred towards Emily had increased due to her exposure to Slytherin ideas. In fact, she hated all Gryffindors, but on top of her list were Emily, Seth, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger.

"Ssh" Malfoy pulled Caitlin into the tall brush. They waited for the two to come up the path, chatting about something involving fireworks. The Slytherins exchanged another happy glance, for they now knew who to blame for the whole fireworks ordeal. Silently, they watched as Emily and Seth came closer.

"We're almost there, right?" Emily asked Seth, as they made their way up the steep path.

"Yes, it's just over the hill here," Seth panted. He wasn't used to climbing steep hills like this, and it took a lot out of him.

"I hope what Fred and George say is true, and that the fireworks do work," Emily said, "I think it'd be cool to have a pet firework dragon."

"Having a giant portrait stalk Professor Umbridge would be wonderful," Seth said.

"But that would mean she would have to light it herself," Emily added.

"Yeah… I wonder if she was there when our fireworks went off," Seth said, thoughtfully.

"More'n likely. Which means we'll probably both be expelled," Emily joked.

"We can always hope," came a cold, sneering voice behind them.

The two whirled around. Instantly, their faces turned angry. Malfoy and Caitlin stood on the path, robes brushed back slightly to allow easy access to their wands.

"Great. I wonder what sin we committed to have you two run into us," Seth said, glaring at Malfoy.

"The Fireworks," Malfoy said, simply, "To which Umbridge will award us handsomely for finding the culprits."

"Try it and see what happens," snarled Emily.

"Oh, do shut up, you filthy Mudblood," Malfoy said, in a bored voice, "You're boring me."

"Me? A Mudblood? What about…" Emily began, angrily.

Caitlin, horrified, shut her up quickly, "Why don't you go back to where you belong, at some second-rate High school with all your Muggle friends."

Emily was so taken aback at this hypocrisy that she faltered. She finally realized that Caitlin had not only completely abandoned her, but had abandoned her faith as an American and a Muggle-Born Witch. She actually thought she was a Full-Blooded Witch! Well, might as well let her dreams keep going… without me as her friend.

"It's nice to see you both living up to your names, out here like this," Emily said, her voice shaking with anger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Malfoy and Caitlin said in unison, their eyes narrowed.

"Why, you don't know?" Emily said, sarcastically, "What I mean is, it's nice to see you both out here, alone, under a tree. Really lives up to your houses name, and I'm sure the rest of your friends would be proud. After all, there is no better house to be involved in than SLUTtherin…"

That did it. Malfoy and Caitlin both roared and went for their wands. Seth and Emily did the same. They advanced, Malfoy after Seth, Caitlin after Emily. Completely ignoring their male-friends' spells, the two girls faced off barely 5 feet apart.

Emily sent out he first jinx that came to her mind, a Jelly-Legs that Caitlin deflected into a tree, so that its roots became Jelly and it fell into the small forested area it was in. Caitlin countered with a spell Emily wasn't prepared for, the Slapping Hex, and it suddenly felt to her like hundreds of hands were slapping her all over the place. This, however, just ignited her anger and she started shooting out so many hexes and jinxes that it was all Caitlin could do to deflect them. Emily had to catch her breath, and Caitlin took that as an advantage.

Against her will, the Slytherin was impressed by her former-friend's ability to cast so quickly. She matched that with all sorts of spells Malfoy had taught her, but Emily also went on a deflecting spree and Caitlin was soon out of breath, too. Finally, both had enough.

"Relashio!" Caitlin shouted.

"Impedimenta!" Emily snarled at the same time.

The spells met in mid-air and combined. They glowed a strange, pinkish color before it fired back at the original caster. Before either could do anything to defend, the spells slammed into them. Emily and Caitlin were both thrown to the ground, and their breath was so severely knocked out of their bodies that they couldn't even more for 5 minutes, they had to sit there, catching their breath. When they stood, there were so many aches and pains in their joints that both doubled over slightly. Still glaring, they tried to raise their wands, but failed.

Malfoy and Seth were also done fighting. Malfoy was also having trouble walking, but Seth was lying on the ground, about 8 feet from Emily. He had his hands clamped on his left cheek and right shoulder, to stem the blood flowing from them. With one last, furious glance, Caitlin and Malfoy helped each other down the hill as Emily moved to Seth's side. He stood up, very slowly, and the two took a different route back to Hogwarts.

The next 3 weeks brought great changes to the Americans, in grades, relationships, and life in general. The classes became much harder, and Matt found it hard to even keep E's in Transfiguration, as did Caitlin in Charms and Emily in Potions. They were also hard-pressed in some classes to get A's, although Astronomy remained an O for them.

In the case of Matt, he and Melody were starting to become further apart. Matt was rather weird and conservative, not wanting too many intimate moments with her. Melody, however, seemed like she wanted to make out more and more often. Matt was rather uncomfortable, and he started to drift out of the Common Room to take refuge from her in the Library more and more often. Strangely enough, the exact same thing was happening between Jack and Lisa, although Lisa was the uncomfortable one. Jack wasn't violent about it, but whenever she stopped him, he became surly for a while afterwards. Lisa, too, took refuge with Matt, who soon learned she was a lot like him… just not as weird.

"Don't take this the wrong way," she said the 6th night in a row they'd hidden amongst the high shelves, "But we shouldn't keep with them if they can't respect our wishes."

"I was thinking the same thing," Matt said, Lisa nodding and scribbling something down about how Venus causes unlucky things to happen to male leg hairs. Finally, she sighed.

"I'm going to break up with Jack. I thought I could be somewhat devilish like him, but… I can't," she confessed, "It's not me and it's too much work to keep face like that."

"I'm thinking the same thing. Let's go and break the news," Matt sighed.

However, when they returned to the Common Room, Melody and Jack were sitting together, kissing. When they saw Matt and Lisa, their expressions grew serious.

"We need to talk," they all said in unison.

It turns out that Melody and Jack had been "seeing" each other behind their backs. Matt and Lisa were actually relieved and agreed that they'd been with each other a lot recently. After a rather quick discussion, Matt and Melody were no more, and neither were Jack and Lisa. 2 seconds after that, Jack and Melody were a new couple, but no feelings had been hurt, no hearts broken. Everything turned out good.

Emily and Seth had recovered from their fight with Caitlin and Malfoy in less than a day. After that, they started to hang out even more together, almost always in each others company. She and Seth also found out what had happened and why Fred and George had never showed up.

"Umbridge caught us," said Fred, glumly, "Or, rather, one of the shopkeepers caught us escaping out the West side of town. She brought us to Umbridge, the hag."

"So we're really sorry about what happened to you guys, and we feel like it's partly our fault," said George, in the most sincere statement he'd probably ever made in his life.

"And anyway," Fred sighed, "We tested the fireworks ourselves. At least the Wheels and Dragons work, but the Portrait ones were stupid."

"Yeah," George added, "They were basically small dots, but they were spread too far apart and looked all spotty. And they looked like you and chased YOU around, so you'd have to trick someone else to light them for it to work…"

As for Emily and Caitlin, they were no more. They were total enemies at this point, and anytime Emily came within 10 feet of her, she wanted to kill her. And her sleazy boyfriend, Malfoy… she hated them both. This, however, became a plus in her relationship between Harry and even Hermione, who Emily thought rather annoying.

"If Malfoy ever turns his wand on either of us again, I'll kill him myself," Emily snarled when she and Seth reflected about the fight a few nights later. Hermione, who was a few feet away when that had been said, whirled around.

"What did he do?" she asked, frowning, "I might be able to get him in trouble."

"Don't bother," Emily muttered, "Nothing of your concern."

"But if it's serious, he should be punished," Hermione pressed.

"Ha. Like Umbridge would let him get anything more than normal lines," said Seth, a cold humor in his voice.

"But if he's been abusing his prefect privileges…" Hermione continued.

"Fine. Malfoy and his slut of a girlfriend attacked Seth and me during the Hogsmeade Trip," Emily snapped, "There? Happy?"

"No," Hermione said, just as angry, "He's despicable, but he'll be getting his just deserts in a few weeks, you just wait."

"Why do you say that?" Seth said, raising an eyebrow over the newest book he was reading.

"Check the mail, and take out a subscription to the _Quibbler_," Hermione said, looking quite lofty about what she'd said.

Emily sent Red Wing out that night. She'd been training him a lot recently, and he'd grown faithful. At first, he wasn't pleased about being ordered to do things and snapped and scratched her. But Emily always fixed him with a deadly stare, growled, or slapped his beak whenever he did this. Finally, the disciplined mini-eagle did whatever she said, and always kept within viewing distance of her.

As for Caitlin, her changes weren't good ones. Her grades had slipped, except for Astronomy, and she was now hovering around the A or P level. In Charms, even, she'd dropped to an Average. But she didn't care. She spent her days forcing herself to stay awake in class, or lying in Malfoy's arms while the teachers talked.

She did her homework at Evenings, never doing anything decent on them. And by night, she and all the other girls stalked the dungeons, stole butterbeer from the kitchens, and terrorized the younger girls. She was having the time of her life. She was falling victim to the Slytherin's evil ways. And Malfoy and her were getting more and more serious.

"You're really improving," Malfoy said, kissing Caitlin a week later, after they'd finished another Dark Arts lesson. She hugged him close, as they made their way down the corridor and into the Common Room. Many people had gone to bed, but a few stragglers remained.

"Caitlin, you must come visit me this summer, stay for the week or the whole of it," Malfoy insisted as they sat on the couch together.

"I'd be glad to. I can't stand my family, they're so goodie-goodie, don't do this, don't do that, it pisses me off," Caitlin said, laying her head on Malfoy's lap.

"Heh. It's good you didn't follow them," Malfoy said, leaning down for a kiss.

Caitlin returned the gesture. She was so happy, she thought this was all life was. Just her and Draco… living in a wonderful mansion, undisturbed by anyone. Caitlin dozed slightly as she thought of her and Draco's future lives together. Malfoy suddenly stood up and paced towards the fire. Caitlin's head sprang up and fell back as he stood, and she sat up.

"Draco?" she asked, concerned.

"The Dark Lord," Malfoy said, quietly, "Is recruiting students. When we reach our 7th Year, we can join him. We both have early birthdays, we both can join him as soon as we turn 17."

Caitlin thought about it for a moment. She always wanted to do something with her new Dark Arts that Malfoy would be impressed by. She smirked, realizing this is exactly what she could do.

"I'd be overjoyed," she said, the smirk still on her face as she walked towards her boyfriend.

"Good. Mind you, I haven't told anyone else," Malfoy said, still quiet, "So don't tell anyone, not even Jo. No one else knows."

"Except those who have Death Eater parents," Caitlin pointed out.

Malfoy smirked, "You're smarter than I thought. Yes, they all know. I suppose you can tell Jo, if you want, but I wouldn't tell the others. I don't know for sure whether they have any people with the Dark Lord. But at least Crabbe, Goyle, you and me. We're a force to be reckoned with as it is, so combined with the Dark Lord, we'll be unstoppable."

Caitlin smirked again, "That's true. We'll get so much stronger that we'll destroy all the Mudbloods and Muggles, especially that no-good Potter."

"And Granger," added Malfoy.

"Potter first. I HATE him," Caitlin said, glaring into the fire. She didn't care that she'd never spoken to Harry, she didn't care that she had hardly even listened to the good things. She only cared what Draco and the other Slytherin's thought. She was one of them, and their thoughts were the only ones that mattered.

"Let's get some sleep. We'll work on that new spell tomorrow," Malfoy stretched again and yawned.

"Yes, I'm rather enjoying the Phantasmal Kick," Caitlin replied, following Malfoy to the stairs.

As for the rest of the changes, they occurred mainly with other students. Matt, predictably, had been also growing closer to Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Hermione Granger. Lisa was good friends with Luna and Ginny, and the 4 of them usually hung out between classes now. As for Hermione, Matt had gone to Professor McGonagall one day to request extra help. She, in turn, had appointed Hermione tutor to Matt. They spent every Wednesday and Friday in her room, after dinner, while Matt practiced his Transfiguration. To his request, Hermione nit-picked every little thing that he did wrong, claiming that if he got a perfect on anything, it would be a great improvement. Snape was still forcing Matt, Neville, and Harry to sit together. Matt and Neville were struggling together, with occasional help from Harry. Matt even managed about 10 minutes worth of conversation, usually about meaningless stuff, with Harry between Snapes furious checks. Although he knew Harry considered him far from a friend, Matt also knew that Harry at least took the time to acknowledge his existence as they passed in the corridor.

Emily was also getting to know Harry more and more, even more than Matt. She and Seth had spent a few nights with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, working on homework, chatting about previous D. A. meetings, or just plain conversation. Emily even got a chance to talk to Harry alone some nights, occasionally going to wait for him after his Occlumency lessons. Harry was grateful for this, for some reason, and Emily wasn't positive why. During the last day of February, however, he explained.

"I keep having these weird visions," he confessed, "And it's driving me mad. The reason I like talking to you about it is, well, while talking to Ron and Hermione are great about all this and all, but it's just that their answers are always the same and I know just what to expect, so it's sometimes useless to say anything to them, ya know?"

"Yes, I understand," Emily said as they reached the Entrance Hall, "And I know how hard it is for you to open up to people because I'm the same way. But if you ever need anything, just let me or Matt know and we'll listen."

"He's kinda freaky…" Harry said, grinning.

"He's really freaky," Emily agreed, "But at least he's not shallow like many people are."

"Yeah…" Harry trailed off as they moved up the stairs.

Caitlin, however, was in another boat all together. Her grades were falling everywhere, and she found it hard to keep even A's in most of her classes, even Charms. And, apart from making friends with Ron, Hermione, and Harry, she was making enemies, more or less. She spat scathing insults at the trio and their friends almost as much as Malfoy did. She hated them, they hated her… they had a very close relationship. Nothing proved this more than a cold Wednesday afternoon on the grounds.

"Hey, isn't that Potter and the Mudblood?" Josephine said as they shared some nicked butterbeer near the lake.

Harry and Hermione were trying to plough through the mud, from on the grounds and probably visiting that oaf, Hagrid.

"Great. Among the last people I wanted to see," sighed Millicent, "But let's just cut to the chase and see how angry we can get them this time."

"You go ahead, I'm tired," Jo said, lying on a bench and holding her hand to her forehead.

"Hey! Potter! Where were you and Granger? In the forest smooching again?" called Ashley Gowin called to them.

Hermione and Harry continued like nothing had happened, while the Slytherin's screeched with laughter.

"Cho won't like that!" Pansy added.

Harry became visibly red this time, but he and Hermione still trudged through the snow, ignoring them.

"I always knew Cho had bad taste, although I thought Diggory's 'accidental death' would show her the light!" Millicent cackled.

Harry stopped and went rigid. Hermione said something sharply to him, trying to pull him along. The girls cackled and Caitlin stood up, taking out her wand. Harry threw Hermione off her shoulder, and turned. His face was red and tight with anger. Caitlin, however, pointed her wand to the ground and muttered something into the mud. Harry raised his wand and Caitlin prepared to deflect, because she grudgingly knew Harry was a better dueler.

However, as Harry began to shout a curse, there was a loud blast from under the mud. Harry and Hermione glanced down, and were both immediately met with a large amount of mud jetting out of the ground like a cannon shot. Hermione shrieked and Harry yelled, both falling backwards and covered in thick layers of mud.

The Slytherin girls doubled over with laughter, and Jo slapped Caitlin on the back for a perfect curse. They all ran off, not wanting to get caught or have Potter turn his wand on them. As soon as they were down by the Dock, they sat near the thawing lake and laughed and did their own impressions of Harry and Hermione being hit with mud.

The last week in February was the next Quidditch Match. It was Gryffindor Versus Hufflepuff, and many were supporting the red and gold. However, their hopes were sadly destroyed in 20, agonizing minutes. It was a clear day, but it had also been a clear night. That meant the temperatures were still freezing, and it was hard to stay warm in the stands. However, some managed this with a rather simple charm of casting flames into a jar to keep them warm.

Matt had taken his seat in the front row. He sat between Lisa and Luna, who were both wearing gaudy Lion hats. Luna had apologized to Matt that she hadn't had enough time to make a third for him, so he just sported some other Gryffindor items. On the other side of the Stadium, Caitlin sat with her friends, Malfoy and Jo on either side. All the Slytherin's were standing, music in hand, and ready to sing should Ron make even one tiny mistake.

Emily was changing with the other girls. It was her first match and she was VERY nervous. She had a hard time hiding her nerves as the rest of the team finished changing and met in front of the tent. Angelina looked like she would rather disappear than play that match, but she at least made an effort to perk the team up.

"This is it, guys. Half the Hufflepuff team is sick, the weather is cold, and we've got fresh meat to work with. I know it won't be an easy game, even though the last time we played Hufflepuff… wait… the other last time we played Hufflepuff, we destroyed them in 5 minutes. I know we'll do fine, and I have confidence in our newest team members. Let's go, everyone," Angelina said, leading them to the field. Katie and Alicia followed her, Ron close behind and staring at the ground. Sloper and Kirke followed them, looking thoroughly terrified. Emily trudged slightly behind, looking around the stands. She knew the Slytherins were going to start into it right at the beginning, so she ignored them. Glancing again, she spotted Harry, Hermione, and Seth. She gave them a wave, then wished she hadn't remembering that she had replaced Harry. Before she had time to look for Matt, the order to "Mount your brooms!" had been given.

She rose in the air, again slightly faster than the last time. She zoomed around, about 20 feet higher than the rest of the game. Her eyes narrowed as she searched for the Snitch. Her other eye watched the game's proceedings, and they weren't good ones.

Within 2 minutes, Hufflepuff had scored. After 5 minutes, they'd scored 6 times, and after 10, they'd scored 14. This miss was quite possibly the worst. Zacharias Smith had zoomed up the field, having it stolen from his hand twice by Angelina (Katie and Alicia were being knocked around by the other 2 Chasers), and Zacharias tossed it as Angelina tackled him. It was going to miss it completely, then Ron tried to knock it away. Instead, he knocked it into the goal, making the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins laugh hysterically.

Matt groaned when this happened, slamming his head into his knees. However, the great teamwork of Angelina, Katie, and Alicia, they scored 8 times in a row within a few minutes. The lion hats around him roared, and Matt cheered, too. However, this streak came to a sad end when Angelina took the Quaffle. She ordered Sloper to follow her and protect her. A bludger flew near them, and Sloper swung. He missed and slammed Angelina in the mouth, forcing her to drop the Quaffle. The hats remained quiet the rest of the game.

Emily suddenly spotted the Snitch. It was RIGHT under Beater Kirke's nose. She dove, while Summerby blew his nose near the Gryffindor Goal Posts. Then she hesitated, remembering what had happened to Angelina. In her second of hesitation, the Snitch disappeared. Cursing herself for that moment of hesitation, she rose to search a little more.

Hufflepuff went on their own scoring spree and scored 10 more times. The score was an embarrassing 240 to 80. Even more embarrassing, Zacharias Smith had taken the 24th shot and had flew by Kirke so fast that he shrieked and fell, backwards, off his broom. Alicia caught him before he hit, but he was so hysterical that she took him straight to the hospital. Meanwhile, the game ended in a rather strange manner.

Summerby was really sick by now, and the cold didn't do much for him. Emily saw the Snitch fly right next to him, but he was coughing too hard to realize that. Even if she caught it, she thought, ignoring the loud singing from below, they'd lose. But they'd lose by more if she didn't catch it because they had one Chaser missing, one with a throbbing mouth, a Keeper that couldn't save a thing, a hysterical Beater, and one other Beater who was pretty much worthless. That left basically two fully functional players, only one being a Chaser. Cursing her bad luck, she dove and caught the snitch, accidentally taking a bit of skin from Summerby's nose with her nail.

Gryffindor supporters cheered half-heartedly. The Hufflepuff supporters went hysterical, cheering an shouting and clapping each other on the back. They were finally in the running for the Cup again. Matt sighed and sat down, while Luna and Lisa sadly removed their hats. Caitlin and Malfoy cheered with the rest, singing their loudest and hardest as Ron moved off the field alone.

The Common Room was packed that night. But it wasn't a happy Common Room, in fact, the atmosphere was so dark and heavy that Emily was actually depressed sitting amongst it. A few people told her she had made a good catch and she nodded slightly at each person. Harry finally walked over to her.

"Nice catch," he said, trying to cheer her up having failed with Ron.

"Yeah… if I hadn't hesitated when it was near Kirke's ankle… I might've gotten us a win. And we would've lost worse if the whole Hufflepuff team wasn't sick…"

"Well, you did pretty good for your first game," Harry said, smiling slightly.

"You will do better when you get back," Emily pointed out.

"I'm banned…" Harry began.

"… for as long as Umbridge is at this school. Following the trend of most Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, she should be leaving at the end of this term anyway, so I wouldn't worry," Emily replied.

"You're probably right," said a voice from behind him. Emily turned and almost had a heart-attack. There was a blue robe among the mass of red in the room. Matt stood there, an optimistic look on his face, "I bet something will happen to her at the last second and she'll be fired or die or something."

"Such wonderful thoughts," said Hermione as she and Seth also walked over, having given up on Ron, too.

"What are you doing in here?" Emily gasped, "How did you…"

"Get your password?" Matt smirked, "Ginny let me in. She, Luna, and Lisa are over there…"

Indeed they were. Fred and George were talking to them about getting other Ravenclaws to test their sweets and fireworks. Luna seemed out of it and gazed happily into the fire. Lisa seemed highly amused by their proposition, and promised she would do whatever it took to help them.

"Speaking of which," Matt muttered, "Luna told us that the newest Quibbler will be out next Sunday. It's a bit delayed because the report from Sweden hasn't come in yet, and she said her father doubted Harry's interview would be included. Just figured I'd swing by and tell you. We better leave before McGonagall.."

But just as he said that, the door opened. Professor McGonagall entered, and gave the room a sweeping look. She seemed shocked that Luna, Lisa, and Matt were in there. She, however, addressed the room at large.

"I know you're all a little taken aback by the match's proceedings, but I need to warn you all. The Headmistress is in a fury about something, so I recommend none of you enter the corridors past 8, lest you face her wrath," she said, "Mr. Warren, Miss Lovegood, Miss Turpin, I suggest you three follow me. I will escort you back to the Ravenclaw Common Room."

The three Ravenclaws nodded and left with Professor McGonagall. They followed her down the hall and turned left.

"I don't know how or why you were in the Gryffindor Common Room," she said, arching her eyebrows slightly, "But I will let it slide. It is normally against the rules, and if Professor Umbridge had caught you…"

"I'm really sorry," Matt said, looking at the floor.

"It's alright, Warren," sighed Professor McGonagall, "I could see you were trying to cheer up your friends. However, that wouldn't change Professor Umbridge's view of things."

"Yeah, I can't say I'm too fond of her myself," Lisa said, growling.

Luna sang "Weasley Is Our King" under her breath as they walked. She stopped suddenly and peered down a dark corridor. Matt, Lisa, and Professor McGonagall stopped.

"Miss Lovegood?" Professor McGonagall asked her, looking concerned.

"Shh… I think there's a Slinky Tak down there…" Luna said, her eyes shining.

"What's a Slinky Tak?" Matt asked, curious.

"Shh, I cannot say here. If it hears us talking about it, it'll rip our ears off and eat our belly-buttons," Luna said, "It is terrified of people gossiping about it and when it gets terrified and when it gets terrified, it attacks."

"Oh, for Pete's sake. Let's go," Professor McGonagall said.

But Matt heard something, too. There were no windows in the corridor and the lights had been extinguished. He peered down it, knowing there were footsteps and murmurings.

"I hear them, too," he and Lisa said at the same time, then glanced at each other, smirking.

"It's the Slinky Tak!" said, happily.

Professor McGonagall had gone rigid. She, too, seemed to think that Luna made sense. Then, the murmurings became louder.

"… the way he dove…" a male's voice said.

"… right in the mouth, it was hysterical!" a female's voice said.

Matt pulled out his wand. He thought quickly, and then thought of the only charm he had managed to pull of with great success.

"Shield your eyes," he muttered.

The other 3 around him did as instructed, although Luna and Professor McGonagall peaked out a little.

"Lumos Solarum!" he shouted.

The sunlight burst from his wand and shot right into an explosion of light in the middle of the corridor, lighting it up. 2 screams were heard down the hallway. Matt cut off the spell, and the light slowly faded. But before it did, he saw the forms of 2 Slytherins lying on the floor, dazed and temporarily blinded. They got over the latter and stood up.

"Miss Murphy, Mr. Malfoy, what are you two doing out of bed at this hour?" Professor McGonagall barked.

The two Slytherins stood shoulder-to-shoulder… well, Shoulder to Upper Arm as Caitlin was rather short compared to Malfoy. They leered at Professor McGonagall.

"Patrolling the corridors, ma'am. I am a Prefect, after all," said Malfoy with a self-righteous smirk.

"Miss Murphy isn't and she should be in her Common Room," Professor McGonagall replied, tartly.

"I'm with him," said Caitlin, ignoring Matt.

"Well, I must take 5 points from you, Caitlin, for not having permission to patrol…"

"_Hem hem…_"

Matt, Lisa, and Professor McGonagall whirled around. Luna ignored the throat-clearing noise and continued to peer past Draco and Caitlin, obviously looking for the Slinky Tak. Professor Umbridge walked down the hall, her pink cardigan thrown over her vibrant, pink nightgown. Her hair in curlers, she smiled widely when she saw the Ravenclaws.

"What is going on here, my dears? Minerva?" Professor Umbridge said, sweetly.

"I caught these two out of bed, and 8 floors above their assigned patrol area," Professor McGonagall said, eyes narrowing.

"Then Warren tried to blind us with his wand!" Draco said, barely containing a smirk.

"What? Mr. Warren, did you indeed cast a spell in the corridors?" Professor Umbridge said, sweeter than ever and her eyes narrowing.

Lisa squeezed Matt's arm slightly in warning. He gave the briefest of nods. Luna was still craning her neck, trying to see down the hallway. Draco and Caitlin smirked.

"Yes, ma'am, I did. But we didn't know what was down there, so…" Matt quickly tried to make a case for himself.

"And that also doesn't explain why you were in the corridor at this time of night," Professor Umbridge said, her voice a whisper.

"They were with me. Practicing Transfiguration," Professor McGonagall said, quickly.

"But… Minerva… isn't your classroom and office 4 floors down?" Professor Umbridge said, triumphantly.

"I… I mean… we were practicing in a different room…" Professor McGonagall said, quickly.

"Say no more. Mr. Warren, 20 points from Ravenclaw and detention. Next Friday night. You will also be forbidden to be in the corridors past 8. Now, off to bed with all of you. Good night…" Professor Umbridge said, walking away with a slight spring in her step.

Matt, Lisa, and McGonagall gaped after her. Draco and Caitlin laughed silently. Luna sighed, suddenly, and said, "Dang. The Glipperey must've gotten the Slinky Tak already."


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the weekend passed quietly. Matt, Lisa, Luna, and Ginny spent their Sunday with Seth, Emily, and Hermione doing homework. Matt and Emily were doing good with the essays, but when it came to the charms and spells, it was getting harder and harder by the moment. Still, they did their best to form the spells and cast them with flare. Ron and Harry popped in once or twice, usually to get some answers from Hermione. Ron seemed somewhat down about the match. Luna, however, got an owl and was the closest to normal they'd ever seen her. She kept smiling and winking at Harry, which freaked him out slightly.

Caitlin spent her Sunday with Draco again. They prowled the corridors, looking for First and Second Years to pick on. By the end of the day, they had scored 3 Galleons, 15 Sickles, 8 Knuts, 58 Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, 4 Chocolate Frogs, and 20 points from Gryffindor. All in all, they decided, it had been a very productive day. That night, they hid in the dungeons again to practice their Dark Arts. Caitlin had finally mastered the Phantasmal Kick, and how also started the Eye of the Snake, an attack which struck with the speed of the snake and felt as though fangs gored your stomach.

A great surprise greeted everyone in the Great Hall the next morning. Matt, Lisa, and Luna arrived very early, all having gotten up that morning to do some homework they'd been unable to complete the night before. Emily and Seth followed soon after, both having taken a jog around the lake. The latter two looked exhausted and were ready for a good nap, and, thankfully, they had History of Magic first. Caitlin and Draco arrived just before the Owls arrived, along with Crabbe, Goyle, and Jo Hammet. The owls flew in, and Matt glanced up. Luna happily watched a slightly strange-looking owl fly in and give her a letter and a copy of the _Quibbler_. Emily, too, received one. One look at the cover by each gave them a shock. There, on the cover, was Harry grinning in a slightly embarrassed manner, with a large, red-lettered headline that read:

_**HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST:**_

_**THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST NOT BE NAMED**_

_**AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN**_

Luna, Matt, and Lisa walked over to the Gryffindor table, where almost 15 owls had arrived with mail for Harry. Matt and Lisa took a seat next to Emily and Seth, who were reading the interview. Matt looked over, while Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others read through Harry's fan mail.

_Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, sat down with special reporter, Rita Skeeter, on Valentine's Day to speak about what happened last June, when You-Know-Who returned._

Just a scar, nothing more. That is all that remains after the brutal attack on Harry Potter and his parents, some 14 years ago, writes _Rita Skeeter, special reporter_. Now, Harry says, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned, with more followers than ever. Potter, 15, says that everyone should be ready, and that the Ministry of Magic should be preparing the Magical Community for what could be a worse reign of You-Know-Who, which could bring the deaths of hundreds of witches, wizards, and muggles alike.

"Most people don't know what he's capable of. He's not just another wizard gone wrong, he's a menace and a threat to everyone, everywhere, Magical or not," he emphasized.

Last Year, the Tri-Wizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts. As you are aware, there were 2 Hogwarts Champions in the contest, Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter. The other two Champions were from Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatton's Magical Academy. For the Third and Final Task, the Champions had to get through a maze and touch the Tri-Wizard Cup. That, Potter says, is where everything went wrong.

"When Cedric and I touched the Cup, we were taken to a Graveyard somewhere. The Cup had been turned into a Portkey!"

When they had finished being transported, Potter claims, they landed in front of a large Tombstone with the name Riddle on it. Harry and Cedric pulled out their wands, still thinking it was part of the Task. They were sadly mistaken.

"As soon as I took out my wand, we heard footsteps. A small, dumpy figure was carrying a large cauldron to us. The next thing I know, my head sears with pain, and I can't see. I felt my wand slip from my grasp, and I fell to my knees."

Then, according to Harry, a high voice told the short man to kill the "spare", referring to Cedric. The man pointed his wand at Cedric, uttered the Killing Curse, and Cedric died before he hit the ground.

Harry had to pause at this point and get his emotions under control. The death of Diggory hit him hard, as the two were close friends. When he was ready to continue, he gave a very in-depth description about what had happened next.

"The man threw me up against the Riddle Tombstone and tied me up. I saw then that it was Peter Pettigrew, known as Wormtail by many." (Peter Pettigrew had been suspected dead for 13 years, after Sirius Black killed him and 12 other Muggles with one curse. Potter denies this, saying that it was really Pettigrew's doing).

Then, a snake slithered out of nowhere. It is now known that You-Know-Who has a snake, one whose poison is capable of killing almost instantly. A bundle of robes carried by Pettigrew was sat next to the large cauldron. When Pettigrew had finished his preparations, he opened the bundle. Harry describes it as best as he can.

"It looked like a crouching child… but… it was so unlike a child. No hair on his entire body, just dark, reddish-black scaly-looking skin. The arms and legs were basically sticks, no muscle seemed to be on them. The eyes… narrow, flat, and snake-like and red. That was Lord…" (I couldn't bring myself to write his name, so I'll just say You-Know-Who).

Next, Potter claims, Pettigrew put the small You-Know-Who into the cauldron. It thudded to the bottom, and Harry had hoped it would drown. Pettigrew then went on to add bone from Riddle's grave, Then, he sliced off his right hand and let it fall into the cauldron, finally piercing Harry's arm with the dagger to add Harry's blood to the cauldron. These ingredients will make him stronger than ever.

The cauldron shot off blinding light. Diamond sparks shot in all directions. Pettigrew, cradling his stump, whimpered next to the cauldron. The cauldron suddenly became dark, silent. Then, out of its depths, rose a man. Wormtail stood and helped robe it. You-Know-Who had risen again.

Again, Harry had to stop momentarily. But, when he began to speak again, he was more fierce, more willing to talk. He said everyone needed to know what they were going up against.

After he had stepped out of the cauldron, You-Know-Who examined his body. He took Wormtail's left arm and pressed his finger to the Dark Mark on it. Harry claims his scar seared with pain again, blinding him for a moment. Then, You-Know-Who began a long, taunting speech to Harry.

"He said things about his father, how he had abandoned his mother and him. He told me that it was his grave I was over, although I had figured that by now. He said… he said that there would be some Death Eaters who would not return to him out of fear. Then… they came. His 'true' family returned."

He went on to ridicule them, Potter states, although is exact words are foggy. Each crawled forward to kiss the hem of his robes before moving back to form a circle around You-Know-Who and Harry. Each then stood in a circle, although there were many open spaces. At one point, one jumped forward, begging for forgiveness. It was a man named Avery, although his first name was unknown. In return, he received the Cruciatus Curse from You-Know-Who who said he wanted 13 years repayment from each before he forgave them.

Then, he made a silver hand appear to replace Pettigrew's amputated hand. He then returned to speaking to his Death Eaters. Harry named a few of them.

"He spoke to Lucius Malfoy, who claimed he was always ready to respond should he get wind of where he was at. There were others, besides Malfoy and Avery. Nott, Crabe, Goyle, Macnair, were among those there. The Lestranges were also noted, although they weren't present, and neither was Barty Crouch Jr., who was the reason all this happened to me. The rest, he passed in silence."

After speaking to the Death Eaters, Malfoy claimed he wanted to know how Lord You-Know-Who had risen. Harry did his best to remember what he could, and knew a few of the things that had been said. He claimed his mother had used Ancient Magic to protect him, something You-Know-Who hadn't counted on. From there, he went to went into hiding. He forced himself to stay alive, knowing his time would come and that a servant would return to him. He possessed bodies, as that was his only power. Professor Quirrell, one of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, was the first to arrive. Although he wasn't a servant of the Dark Lord at the time, he became one when You-Know-Who possessed him for over a year.

When Quirrell was killed over a fight in the Dungeons of Hogwarts, You-Know-Who returned to hiding. 2 Years passed, and then Peter Pettigrew came upon him, nursed him back to health, until he was allowed to travel. But the trip didn't go unnoticed.

"Lord said that, while they were traveling through Albania, they came upon Bertha Jorkins, a witch that had gone missing from the Ministry 2 summers ago. She, apparently, tried to confront Wormtail, but, being the dunderhead she always had been, was tricked into following him on a stroll into the forest. Lord over-powered her, and forced her to tell him secrets, including that of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. That was how the plan was made. He killed Bertha shortly after."

With this new information, You-Know-Who continued on his trek back to England. He knew he had to get to Harry somehow… and that was how his plan formed. Barty Crouch Jr, according to the Dark Lord, was his most faithful servant. Crouch attacked Alastor Moody, ex-Auror from the Ministry, and forced him into a trunk he owned. From there, he repeatedly made enough Polyjuice Potion to last him the entire year. That was how the Cup was turned into a Portkey.

"He cast Crucio on me at that point. The pain was unbearable, I almost passed out. Every Death Eater laughed. Then, Lord ordered me untied and my wand was returned to me. He wanted to duel."

According to Harry, the duel was somewhat shorter than he would've thought. After the Dark Lord toyed with him for a moment, casting Crucio on him again, and he fell into the Death Eaters, who pushed him back.

"I knew at that point I was going to die, like Cedric. But I wouldn't let him toy with me. He cast the Imperius Curse on me next, and tried to get me to say something that I can't quite remember. But I wouldn't. I fought the Curse and he took it off me. He was angry at this point, and I knew it was time."

The Dark Lord tried to case the Cruciatus Curse again, but Harry dodged and instead a tombstone was blown to pieces. Harry waited, knowing he had only one hope. Just as The Dark Lord came around the corner, Harry made his move.

"I tried to use the Disarming Charm at the same moment he tried to use the _Avada Kedavra _Curse. Our spells met in mid-air and something weird happened. A golden band of light connected our wands, and we were levitated off the ground. Professor Dumbledore later told me this was Priori Incantatnem at work or something."

The golden light sent more around, and they were soon enclosed in golden light. According to Harry, the Death Eaters were told to do nothing. Then, beads formed along the wand, and Harry was a bit confused at first. Then, he heard a song, a song Harry described as that of a Phoenix, giving him strength. He knew something about the beads and that he couldn't let go.

"Something just told me not to let go, something told me the beads could not be allowed to reach my wand. I did my best to hold on, and force the beads to his wand, and when they connected, strange things happened. Screams came from his wand, then a ghost-version of the hand he had made Wormtail flew out of his wand, more screams… and then Cedric Diggory."

Harry had to stop once more, tears now in his eyes. When he could speak again, he spoke quietly. According to him, a strange, echo of Diggory came out of the Dark Lord's wand. More screams of pain, then another elderly Muggle Man Harry said was in a dream he once had. Next, to his shock, Bertha Jorkin's shadow emerged. All told Harry to hold on, and to fight the urge to let go.

"I knew what was coming next. And I wasn't wrong. My Mom and Dad emerged next. They told me what do to: break the connection. They would linger and block Lord 's view for a few moments, and Cedric… he… he told me to take his body back to his parents."

When Harry broke the connection, he tore through the Death Eaters, knocking two of the stunned ones to the ground. By the time he reached Cedric's body, they were in pursuit. They approached, shooting spells at him that was slowly destroying the graveyard. When he reached the body, he knew he couldn't carry it.

"I used the Summoning Charm on the Cup. It flew into my hand, and we left. The last thing I remember is screaming in fury as we were whisked away, back to Hogwarts."

Harry went on to explain that, though the next few days were a blur, he remembered returning to Hogwarts. He was carried away by Moody, or so he thought. When Moody tried to kill him, Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall, along with Rubeus Hagrid, showed up to help Harry. Barty Crouch was exposed at last.

"Then, to my shock, Fudge didn't believe a word we said. He was about to interrogate him, but a Dementor… Kissed Crouch."

Fudge threatened that there would be changes in the school, and he's been right. The appointment of High Inquisitor is enough to show that. And, seeing the Daily Prophet's stories about Harry over the summer, it's not hard to see that the Ministry is denying this in any way possible. But, Harry concludes, we must be ready.

"A war is beginning," he said, grimly, "And if we aren't prepared for it, we won't survive it. We must be ready to fight Lord , and, if we stick together and form friendships with the giants and such, we can defeat Lord once and for all."

Matt finished the story. His mouth was wide open. Emily, Seth, and Lisa were also stunned. Lisa actually had tears in her eyes, and Matt was a little choked up by everything, too.

"I… I don't believe it," said Emily, looking up, "It's so terrible… it's much worse than anything I've ever read. And now the Ministry won't believe he's back, the bastards."

"But at least Harry's convinced some," Luna said, dreamily, as the others continued to open the Fan and Hate Mail, "Although some think he's crazy for some reason."

"If I didn't know Harry, I wouldn't believe it," Seth said, re-reading the article again.

"Harry," Ron said, suddenly, "Wasn't it Snape who helped you, not Hagrid?"

"Yeah," Harry said, quickly, "But Hermione told me not to use his name."

"It's for his protection, and for the sake of the… well, you know," Hermione said.

"Oh no, look whose coming," Lisa said, suddenly.

Professor Umbridge, like many in the Great Hall, had noticed the large amount of owls Harry had received. Matt gulped, while Lisa stuffed Emily's _Quibbler_ into her bag. The toad waddled over, where no one else seemed to notice her.

"_Hem hem…_"

Matt twitched slightly as she cleared her throat. Emily also had a slight spasm from her spine as the woman always gave her.

"What is going on here?" she asked in her sweet, girlish voice.

No one responded at first. Her eyes narrowed, her voice getting higher.

"Why do you have all these letters, Mr. Potter?" she asked, her eyes moving from one to the other.

"Oh, is that a crime now?" Fred Weasley said, loudly, "Getting mail?"

Matt, Lisa, and Emily laughed out loud at this, barely able to keep themselves in line. It hadn't been THAT funny, but Umbridge had twitched at that, and that had amused them. Seth elbowed Emily and gave her a warning look, although he looked amused.

"Be careful, Mr. Weasley, or I shall put you in detention," she said, eyeing the twin with hateful eyes, "Well, Mr. Potter?"

"People have been writing to me because I gave an interview," said Harry, loftily, "About what happened to me last June."

"An interview?" said Umbridge blankly, "What do you mean?" 

"I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered them," said Harry in a "duh!" voice, "Here…"

He chucked a copy at Umbridge. It hit her in the face and she almost dropped it. Matt was hysterical by now, and debating whether or not it would be safer to exit. Umbridge scanned the page, quickly, and her eyes narrowed.

"When did you do this?" her voice trembled, giving Emily a strange sense of pride.

"Last Hogsmeade weekend," Harry replied.

"There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, Mr. Potter," she whispered, angrily, "How you dare… how you could…"

She took a very deep breath to calm herself. Matt had stopped laughing, knowing whatever was coming wasn't good. Even Luna was paying attention at this point, a slightly worried look on her face.

"I have tried, again and again, to teach you not to tell lies. The message, obviously, hasn't sunk in. 50 points from Gryffindor and another week's worth of detentions."

With that, she stalked away, towards the Slytherin table. Harry didn't seem to mind the points he had lost. Matt was torn between indignation at Umbridge and ecstasy that she had been, slapped in the face, so to speak. Emily cackled, knowing this would knock her off her high horse… for a while at least. They returned to breakfast and planned for the day ahead.

At the Slytherin table, Caitlin, Jo, and Malfoy watched the proceedings. They wondered what was going on.

"How come Potter has all that fan mail?" Malfoy asked, "What's so great about him anyway?"

"I know… he didn't do anything and people are swooning over him," Caitlin added, indignantly.

"I think it's this," Jo said, her face buried in the _Quibbler_.

"Jo, why do you even read that?" Malfoy drawled, stretching slightly.

"Because I was warned by someone that it would be in our interests. I wasn't wrong," she said, showing them the article.

Malfoy and Caitlin read it and gasped. Malfoy went slightly paler. Caitlin noticed about 8 or 9 copies all up and down the Slytherin table, many of which had pale-faced students, too.

"Damn that Potter… damn him to hell!" Malfoy roared, suddenly, "How dare he accuse my father?!?"

"It's… not true is it?" Caitlin asked, worried.

"Every word," Malfoy said, quieter, "But we didn't think Potter would ever be brave enough to say anything, nor that anyone would believe him."

Caitlin sighed, rubbing her temples. It was going to be a long day, she could see. And, with History of Magic first, she was willing to fake appendicitis to get out of class.

"Don't worry. I'm sure many will still think he's crazy. It is the _Quibbler_, after all," Jo assured them.

Professor Umbridge began making her way towards them. She was red in the face, her hands shook as she held the _Quibbler._ Hastily, the Slytherins hid their copies. They looked innocently at her, Caitlin and Jo sharing silent glee that Umbridge was so angry.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Hammet, Miss Murphy, follow me," she said, angrily, but still in her sweet, girlish voice.

With inward groans, the three followed her out. They met Josephine, Pansy, Millicent, and Ashley just out front of the doors. Professor Umbridge beckoned them along, too. They followed her up the stairs, along the corridor, to a smaller staircase and up until they reached her office. She told them to stand and she began to fill out a letter. She addressed the envelope to the Minister, and tied it onto a rather ugly owl with a pink bow tied to its neck.

"This… this latest insult," she said, vehemently, placing the _Quibbler_ onto the desk in front of her, "It must be stopped. You all know the lies Potter has been telling. I will put a stop to it, and I'll need your help with a small errand I have to run."

"Anything, Professor," said Malfoy, smirking.

"Just a moment," said Professor Umbridge. She took out some Floo Powder and shoved her head into the fire. She was talking, but her voice was muffled among the flames. Then, she withdrew her head, a large grin on her flabby face.

"Well. The Minister has just kindly agreed to pass the newest Educational Decree, Decree Number 27. It states, 'Some publications are dangerous and inappropriate for students to read. These writings should be forbidden on school grounds. Among the forbidden publications are the _Quibbler._ Students found in possession of these dangerous publications should be dealt with in the strictest manner possible, for all the good of the student and teaching body.'"

"And what do we have to do in this?" Josephine asked.

"I must make new boards. This must be known. You will all give me a hand, and be excused from lessons today while you help me make these signs."

"Yay! No History of Magic!" squealed Ashley.

"Fine. What should the signs say?" Caitlin asked, not looking forward to spending more time than she needed to with this woman.

"Here's an example," Professor Umbridge said, showing them, "I made it a few hours ago. I need someone to hang this one up. They must go in all the House Rooms, Dorms, Classrooms, and Corridors. We'll need dozens of these signs, so get to work."

"I'll go put it up in the History of Magic Room," Malfoy volunteered, "That way we can tell Professor Binns where we are. Caitlin will come with me, of course."

"Good idea, Mr. Malfoy!" simpered Professor Umbridge, "If only all those other nasty students were more like you…"

On the 4th Floor, Matt and Lisa were playing Hang Umbridge on another piece of paper. Matt had also managed to change a bit of ripped-up parchment into a CD player and CD, which was merrily playing some of his DDR songs. Neither were paying attention to Binns, who was going on through his notes without caring that he had no ones attention, except Hermione's.

Emily and Seth were chatting and re-reading the article. As they did so, Emily found that her respect was growing for Harry. And… her pity was, too. She felt sorry for him, and wondered what it would be like to have to deal with what he had to deal with every day. Sighing at the thought, she returned to ignoring Professor Binns and watching as Seth read the article under his breath. He seemed very moved by it for some reason, and she caught a tear in his eye a few times.

The door banged open. Everyone, except Professor Binns, jumped and looked around. Seth and Emily stuffed the _Quibbler_ out of sight, Matt shoved the CD Player into his bag. Cyclone flew in first, obviously terrified. Remembering the first day with him, the class giggled. Cyclone slammed into the wall and fell behind a stack of books. Matt sighed.

_Of all the classes…_ he thought, _Why does Cyclone decide to fly in during History of Magic?_

Matt suddenly noticed the hush. He and Emily both stared at what followed Cyclone. In front of them, Draco and Caitlin were tacking a sign up to the blackboard. Matt gasped, realizing the sign was one of the same ones used by the other Educational Decrees.

"What does it say?" a few people from the back asked, trying to get a better view.

"It can't be good…" another replied.

What amused them was that Professor Binns continued like nothing had happened. Cyclone emerged, his beak slightly crooked again. The sign itself read:

----------By the Order of----------

**THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**

Any student found in possession of the magazine _The Quibbler_ will be expelled.

_The above is in accordance with_

_Educational Decree Number Twenty-Seven_

"Professor Binns, Caitlin, Myself, Jo Hammet and the rest of the Slytherin 5th Years are busy helping Professor Umbridge. Please excuse us," drawled Malfoy.

"What? Oh, okay. Off you go then, Mr. Mackenzie," Professor Binns said, waving a hand absent-mindedly.

The Slytherins marched out and Matt and Emily looked at each other, then back to Lisa and Seth. Gulping, they checked their bags, knowing those magazines could be the end of their schooling career.

Caitlin and Draco returned to Umbridge's office. In their absence, 7 more identical signs had been made, and the others were continuing on. Crabbe, Goyle, and Theodore Nott had joined them, but their signs left a bit to be desired. Sighing, Caitlin corrected them with a quick charm and theirs were as good as Josephine, who had natural artistic abilities.

"Did Professor Binns mind, my dears?" Professor Umbridge asked, sweetly.

"I doubt he even realized it," Caitlin replied, taking her own poster and beginning.

After another ½ hour, they had 22 total. The bell rang, and suddenly Malfoy looked up.

"Professor, may we go to Potions? It's very important that we go so we don't fall behind. And these posters need to dry as it is…" Draco whined.

"Good idea, go on then. I must teach the 3rd Years anyway, so go to your lesson and be back before Lunch…"

They all left, heading for the Potions Classroom.

Meanwhile, a few floors below, Snape was sweeping about in his usual, angry manner. Matt was still sitting with Harry, although Neville had mysteriously missed this lesson. He hadn't been in History of Magic, either. Matt didn't have long to wonder why before they were set on a Potion that was used to fix cracked fingernails.

"Harry… I know how hard that must've been for you," Matt muttered, as he attempted to measure the correct amount of Grasswhistle.

"It was… but it was worth it," smirked Harry, also measuring, but putting in a lot less than Matt had, which made the latter nervous.

"And you even convinced some people. There were still owls arriving when we all left!" Matt said, with glee. He added 4 drops of Grindylow Puss to his cauldron, making it sizzle like an egg.

"Um… I think you only needed 1 ½ drops, Matt," Harry said, as his Potion turned a pinkish, fleshy color.

"Hmm? Oh…" Matt said, looking at the green, sizzling mess in his cauldron.

A few tables over, Emily sighed and shook her head. Matt had messed up again, while hers was perfect. She helped Seth measure his own Grindylow Puss when the doors suddenly opened. She hadn't noticed that about ¼ of the class was missing, but in strolled Malfoy, Caitlin, and a few of the other Slytherins. Emily's jaw tightened, and she added 4 ¾ drops to Seth's cauldron, also making it go green and sizzily.

"What are you doing, McGuire?" growled Snape from the front, as Seth moved cautiously away from the cauldron.

"Added to much Grindylow Puss," he observed.

"You and Warren both… well, you might as well stop. No marks for either of you, since neither can even measure 3 drops correctly.

"Three? I thought it was 1 and a ½…" Harry said, a little too loudly.

"And Potter, once again, you show how incompetent you are. 10 points from Gryffindor," Snape said, coolly, while Draco and Caitlin burst into laughter from the front row. Neither of their Potions were as good as Hermione's and Emily's, but it was a lot better than Matt and Seth's combined.

The rest of the day passed. The Slytherin's, of course, skipped the rest of their lessons to hang signs EVERYWHERE. However, the day wasn't lost for the rest of them and was, possibly, even more interesting than the Slytherins'.

In Divination, Professor Trelawney took one look at Harry and then burst into wild, loud tears. She then made the strangest, most accurate prediction ever, to Umbridge's great displeasure.

"I… I… I Seeeeee!" she sobbed pathetically, "I see not death in young Harry's future! I… I see! I see him to go to great heights! I see him as… as… THE NEXT MINISTER OF MAGIC! HE WILL MARRY SOMEONE HE HAS YET TO MEET, AND HAVE 12 CHILDREN! He will die a ripe old age, peacefully in his sleep!"

Caitlin and Jo, who had been hanging a sign in the room at the time, stood dumbfounded as Professor Trelawney dissolved into more tears. Matt and Emily were rather amused by the whole incident. Lisa was half confused, half amused. Seth found it stupid, and it was hard to tell what Harry thought about it.

Professor Umbridge, on the other hand, was terrible in her class. She forced them to take an oral quiz, with impossible questions that caused all houses, even Slytherin, to lose no less than 30 points by the end. Caitlin, Matt, and Emily were at their wits end with the toad, and Matt remembered about his detention coming up that Friday.

The next day was as interesting as the day before. Everywhere Harry went, the Americans noticed, people would flock to him and ask him questions about what had happened. Professor Umbridge stopped both Matt, Emily, Seth, and Lisa at separate times and forced them to turn out their pockets and bags, trying to find the _Quibbler_. What amused them was that Seth and Emily had wiped their copy blank when it was not being read, and Matt and Lisa had made it so it looked like the Quibbler to them, but just plain parchment to Umbridge.

The teachers continued to show their gratitude of Harry. Flitwick, Emily noticed, gave Harry a box of squeaking Sugar Mice after class. Professor Sprout, to Matt's amusement, awarded Gryffindor 20 points when Harry handed her the watering pail. And Hagrid had done what Trelawney had done and burst into tears when he did a review lesson on the Unicorn.

Friday night, Matt and Harry reported to Umbridge's room together. She was obviously still angry about the _Quibbler_ interview, but she didn't make a fuss about it. She just ordered Harry to write "_I must not tell lies_" and Matt to write, "_I won't do magic in the corridors_" over and over, their hands splitting open.

Every now and then, Matt glanced at Harry, who gave him a ½ pitying, ½ rebellious look. Neither let out a sound for the whole 2 hours they were kept in the room. When they did leave, however, Matt almost ran over a First Year.

"Sorry," he said as after he stepped on the girl's toe. Then he saw who it was and gasped, slightly, "Rachel! I'm really sorry!"

Rachel Younger peered up at him, and gave him a radiant smile, "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Matt said, feeling slightly guilty that he hadn't even talked to her in 3 weeks, "Er… how are you?"

"I'm doing pretty good. Just tired. You haven't talked to me in a while," she said, not in a hurt voice, just making conversation.

"I… er… well, I… am sorry," he replied, flatly.

"It's okay. I saw you hanging out with Luna Lovegood and Lisa Turpin," she said as they walked down the corridor, towards the painting.

"Yeah… you should hang out with us, too," Matt said.

"Well… maybe…" Rachel shrugged, "If you guys don't mind."

"You'll be right at home," Matt said, happily.

The end of the week arrived. Conversation had slowly died out about the _Quibbler_ interview, and it returned to one of two things: The Escaped Death Eaters (who had numerous sightings continuing to be reported in the area), and Gryffindor's abysmal performance.

Emily was having a particularly hard time about it. Various houses would laugh and point as she passed with Seth and whoever else, and then snicker when she was out of ear-shot. She ignored them for the most part, but lost it when a pair of snot-nosed Hufflepuff Second Years called her a "slow, dumb pig." She knocked them both up against the wall with a Knockback Jynx, giving her a detention and 30 point loss from Madam Hooch, who happened to be passing. Thankfully, though, there wasn't a song about her. "Weasley is our King" was sung so often in the corridors that Filch finally banned it because it gave him a migraine.

Matt was right about Rachel. She fit right in with the group, laughing and joking along with them. They spent many happy hours playing Exploding Snap B/S, Bertie Bott's Flavor Challenge, and, when Matt got Professor McGonagall's permission, Dance Dance Revolution. The Professor had actually transformed 3 chairs and a desk into the arcade game, giving great glee to the three (And Emily once she found out).

Caitlin and the rest of the Slytherins were in for a shock, however. One day, they entered their dorm to find an extra bed. Caitlin was in shock.

"Why is there an extra bed? There's not that many of us…" said Caitlin, peering into the room.

The other girls, however, looked excited. The entire Common Room had been buzzing with some sort of news earlier, and it was obvious what it was now.

"Cait's back," smirked Pansy, "Caitlin Raub."

"Who is she?" asked Caitlin, wondering who this person who shared her name could be.

"Only the badest Slytherin of the Year," said Josephine.

"She's been in Azkaban for 8 months," explained Jo, "She got caught torturing Muggles who were kicking her dog. The three boys got such a bad Cruciatius Curse put on them that they were placed in Temporary Insanity."

"All three made a good recovery," said Millicent, sounding slightly disappointed at this.

"And now, she's back," said Ashley, happily.

Caitlin turned when the door opened again. There, in front of her, was Caitlin Raub. She was short and squat, with Black and Red Hair. Her glasses, on her slightly red face, didn't magnify her eyes, but gave her a look that just said, "Don't mess with me." She stood not much taller than Caitlin, but looked a lot stronger. The aura radiating off her made the latter cringe slightly.

"Well well well… who is this now?" she asked, moving towards Caitlin Murphy.

"This is Caitlin Murphy, Cait," Jo explained, quickly.

"How are you!?!" shrieked Pansy, running forward to embrace her friend. Cait hugged back, but her eyes didn't leave Caitlin.

"Is she any good?" asked Cait after everyone else embraced her.

"Malfoy seems to think so," said Pansy with a tint of jealousy.

"Heh. Then she's alright by me. Welcome to Slytherin, Murphy… although it's a bit late for that," Cait drawled, lounging on her bed.

"Thanks, I think," Caitlin said, sitting on her own bed, next to Cait's.

"So… anyone new I should know about?" asked Cait, as she pulled out some butterbeers and passed them around.

Over the next hour or so, the girls got her up-to-date with the goings-on at Hogwarts. She was particularly happy to know more than just Snape was on their side, and that they were being awarded house points stolen from other houses.

The next few weeks proved to be bad ones in terms of work. As March continued to pass, the teachers continued to give them more and more strenuous amounts of homework. Emily had an even worse time, trying to fit it all around Quidditch and DA Meetings. Angelina tried to keep the team motivated, but they all knew they had a very slim chance of winning.

Matt, Luna, Lisa, and Rachel spent most of their time with the DDR machine. They hid it in the 5th Year's Boy's Dorm (it wouldn't work in the girls' as Matt couldn't get to it), and danced for about 30 of their free time. Between lessons, during Defense Against the Dark Arts, after dinner, before lunch, on weekends… they were also getting good. Lisa and Rachel were especially good, although Luna would drift into thought at times during the game, but when she focused, she was almost as good as Matt. The rest of the Year played occasionally, but they would rather be with their girl and boyfriends, or doing something else with their time.

Caitlin and Cait Raub quickly became friends. Perhaps it had something to do with the name, but from day one, Cait and Caitlin would sit next to each other in class, roam the halls with each other (usually with Malfoy and Jo, too), and ate their meals in the group. Malfoy respected Cait, as did most of the Slytherins. There was something Caitlin Murphy noticed, however. Cait wasn't as brutal as most Slytherins. She didn't go out of her way to start things, and only fought and retorted when pushed. But she didn't seem to notice as she spat scathing insults at Harry, Hermione, and Emily.

It was just going on April when something utterly terrifying happened. Matt was sitting with Rachel, Lisa, and Luna, reading the latest issue of the _Quibbler _(this one included an update on Crumple-Horned Snorklaks, the Slinky Tak, and the Glipphery). Emily and Seth were finishing up some last-minute homework that was due the next morning (they'd forgotten it and were just writing whatever came to their heads down). Caitlin was listening to another story Cait was telling about Azkaban (she had told them that it was a horrible place, but there were a few moments that were as close to happy as you can get that she mentioned).

Suddenly, there were 2 crashes and a bunch of shouting from the Entrance Hall. Matt hid the _Quibbler_ while the Ravenclaws turned towards the door. Emily and Seth blotted the paper with a spot if ink, and Cait faltered in her story. The Hall went silent, and everyone looked at the semi-open doors. A few shared a glance, then, almost at once, the students stood up and ran out the doors, charging through each other to get a good view.

Matt and Lisa were separated from Rachel and Luna at first, but they didn't immediately look for them. They were jammed together, along with most of the other students, in a semi-circle in front of the Stairs. Emily and Seth were right next to the banister, Seth actually leaning on it. The sight everyone saw revolted Matt and Emily, and others, scared a few, and delighted the others (mainly Slytherins).

Professor Trelawney, obviously the one who had screamed, seemed to have finally lost it. She was standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall. She looked like she had gone 'round the twist. Apart from the sherry bottle in one hand, wand in the other, she looked more strange and disheveled than any of them could remember. Her shawls and beads were hanging of her arms and shoulders, making her look like she had been thrown down the stairs with her trunk. Her glasses were knocked loose, making one eye about 6 times the size of the other. Her hair stood up everywhere, almost as badly as Hagrid's. And, to top off her appearance, she was rocking back and forth, her different-sized eyes rolling.

"She looks like she just escaped the asylum," smirked Cait to the rest of the Slytherins.

"Oh… my… God…" muttered Lisa, faintly, "This is terrible."

"And guess who is responsible," said Seth, indicating none other than the High Inquisitor herself, Professor Umbridge.

Professor Umbridge, to the Americans' disgust, was standing there, smiling in that leerish way that made you want to throw something large and heavy at her. Her eyes were alight with malicious glee as she looked at Professor Trelawney (although she was still eye-level from the 5th step).

"No!" cried poor Professor Trelawney, "NO! This cannot be happening…. It cannot… I refuse to accept it!"

"You didn't realize this was coming?" said Professor Umbridge in her high, girlish voice. Matt and Emily were infuriated to hear amusement coming from it, "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?"

"You c-can't!" stuttered Professor Trelawney, her voice growing higher with every word, "you c-cant sack me! I've b-been here for sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is m-my h-home!"

"It _was_ your home," sang Professor Trelawney. Emily was inches from ripping her wand out of her pocket and turning the Professor into a frog, "until an hour ago, when the Minister of Magic countersigned the order for your dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this hall. You are embarrassing us."

Professor Trelawney seemed to have lost her balance. She sat onto one of her trunks and rocked back and forth, bawling. Professor McGonagall, to many an amazed eye, moved forward to sit next to her, and pat her comfortingly on the shoulder.

"There, there, Sibyll… Calm down… Blow your nose on this…" she removed a large handkerchief, "It's not as bad as you think, now… You are not going to have to leave Hogwarts…"

"Oh, really, Professor McGonagall?" said Umbridge in a deadly voice, taking a few teeny steps forward, "And your authority for that statement is…"

Matt knew it was going to happen right before it did. The situation was too perfect.

"That would be mine," came a loud voice.

The doors had opened just before this statement. Many students drew back as none other than Professor Dumbledore entered the room. It was a mystery as to why he was on the grounds, but he looked much more formidable than usual for some reason. He surveyed the scene, noticed Trelawney and McGonagall on the trunk and moved forward as students leapt out of his way.

"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" said Umbridge at last, trying to keep the nastiness in her voice, but faltering slightly, "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here…" - she pulled out a parchment scroll from within her robes - "an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister of Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Three…"

"That rhymes," Matt said, suddenly. Some glared at him, but Lisa giggled nervously.

"… the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect…"

"Blah blah blah… will she just get to the point," snarled Emily, while noticing Parvati and Lavender sobbing hysterically a few feet away. "Get a grip, she won't have to leave." she said to them. Both gave her half angry, half depressed looks.

"… Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her," concluded Professor Umbridge.

The heads of the students went between Umbridge and Dumbledore, much like watching a tennis match. Dumbledore's smile remained, however, and he spoke calmly.

"You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I'm afraid that the power to do that still resides with the headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts."

As soon as he finished, Professor Trelawney gave a hiccup-laugh. Many students exchanged knowing glances at this.

"No - no, I'll g-go, Dumbledore! I sh-shall l-leave Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere…!"

"No," said Dumbledore, rather sharply, "It is my wish that you remain, Sibyll. Professor McGonagall, might I ask you to help Sibyll back upstairs?"

"Of course," said Professor McGonagall, helping her to her feet. Professor Sprout came over to help, while Professor Flitwick levitated the trunks after them. He made sure a corner struck Umbridge as he passed, though she didn't seem to care at the present.

"And what are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?"

Caitlin gasped. Her friends shared a knowing look. However, Caitlin was more worried about an Umbridge-like teacher, but her friends were worried that Divination would continue in Hogwarts as it had before.

"Oh, that won't be a problem," said Dumbledore, "You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."

"You… found?" shrieked Umbridge, "Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Twenty-Two…"

"… the Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if - and only if - the headmaster is unable to find one," said Dumbledore. Emily gave her own mad cackle, making a few First Years jump, "And I am happy to say that on this occasion, I have succeeded. May I introduce to you…"

He waved his arm at the door. There was silence at first, then hooves. Emily gasped, knowing what was coming, although Matt and Lisa shared a look of confusion. Then, to their amazement, a _centaur_ clomped into the Entrance Hall, making more First Years jump and many more students gasp.

"This is Firenze," said Dumbledore," I think you'll find him suitable."

A few minutes later, once the crowd had dispersed and the teachers had ordered them to clear the Hall, Matt and Lisa found Luna and Rachel. They returned to Dinner, eating slowly and chatting.

"Can you believe that?" gasped Rachel, "I never had Trelawney. Is she that bad?"

"Yes," said Matt and Lisa at the same time. Luna was singing "Weasley Is Our King" again, and seemed to ignore the conversation, "Although," Matt added, "No one needs that sort of punishment, I don't care how bad they are."

"Exactly. I can't believe Umbridge would do something like that, the Toad…" snarled Lisa. Umbridge had retired to her office, rather quickly, obviously to plot on how to get rid of Firenze and Hagrid now.

"This should be interesting. She loathes part-humans," Matt said, happily.

"Don't say that… that sounds racist," said Rachel, looking at Matt with her innocent, brown eyes.

"Sorry, my mistake," Matt sighed, "But she hates centaurs, werewolves, half-giants, vampires…"

"Anything that's not 100 human and wizard is hated by her," sighed Lisa, setting down her fork and knife, "And now I'm not hungry."

"I wouldn't worry," said Luna, dreamily, "I'm sure Firenze will be a much better teacher than Trelawney ever could be in a million years."

"That _bitch!_" snarled Emily, stabbing her potato. She had made it look somewhat like Umbridge's face, and she had fun stabbing it repeatedly until Professor Vector of Arithmancy came over and kindly (but nervously) asked her to cease with the stabbing.

"I know," said Seth as Vector walked away, "She's horrible. I can't believe anyone would be so cruel."

"Well, at least Dumbledore's made her life worse," Emily said, with contempt, "Hiring a centaur is sure to piss her off."

"I can't say for sure, but I'll bet she's cooking up a scheme to get rid of him as we speak," Seth snorted, "I wouldn't be shocked if he was gone by next Tuesday."

"We'll have him on Friday… Dumbledore said Divination Lessons will be postponed until Friday while they get things set-up with Firenze," said Emily, "Though I don't know if he'll be any better. Someone told me centaurs are vague…"

"Ah well, it can't be worse than Trelawney," Seth said, reaching for dessert.

"How could Dumbledore do that?" sighed Josephine at the Slytherin table, "I mean… why?"

"He _knows_ Divination is pointless. I heard him say it when I was eavesdropping on him and McGonagall one day," said Cait.

"Still, appointing a _centaur?_" shouted Millicent, "He's not even fully human! How can he teach us anything?"

"Relax. Dumbledore's reign is ending at Hogwarts," Malfoy drawled, sliding closer to Caitlin, "Umbridge and my father have told me so numerous times."

"It's only a matter of time," said Josephine in a dark, mysterious voice, "Before great changes come to Hogwarts. Changes that will forever affect us all."

That Friday, the 5th Years reported to Divination, right after breakfast. While none preferred having Divination first thing in the morning, it was slightly helpful that Trelawney would not be gracing their presence… though a centaur, in some people's opinion, wasn't much better. Nearly all of them had gotten to bed late the previous night, from either homework or dungeon-roaming. Many, except Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who loved Divination, were half-asleep as they entered classroom 11. That changed, however, when they saw the room itself.

Among the first to arrive were Matt and Lisa. They walked in, and Matt immediately slipped on the mossy floor. Lisa caught him as he fell, but she went with him.

"Sorry," gasped Matt, helping them up. He saw the room for the first time now. There was grass, dirt, and moss on the floor, the tiles were unable to be seen at all. Trees and bushes seemed to grow out of the floor itself, spanning high into the air. The walls and windows were covered by the branches and leaves of the trees, giving the room a slightly green light. Boulders had been tactfully placed in various spots, allowing for good places to rest. Firenze stood in the center, in all his centauric glory.

"Welcome," he said, solemnly, "Find a spot on the ground, please."

"Y-yes…" Matt said, suddenly nervous. He and Lisa sat against the largest boulder. The rest of the Ravenclaws soon followed, then the Hufflepuffs (Hannah Abbott also slid on the moss, knocking down Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley, both who gave her angry looks).

Then Emily and Seth arrived. Both gaped when they entered. The room was… surreal. It was like they were in the Forbidden Forest, just sitting and watching the clouds. They took seats next to Matt and Lisa, who were still looking nervous.

Among the last to arrive, just before the bell, were Caitlin, Jo, Cait, Malfoy, and his two goons. They walked in lazily, not phased in the slightest by the room. They nosily sat down, knocking around as many branches, leaves, and Hufflepuffs as humanly possible. Caitlin had to admit… the room wasn't ordinary, but it wasn't anything too special, either.

Blaine arrived last, shutting the door behind him. He took his seat on a tree stump, beside Nate, and the attention turned to Firenze. He gestured around the room.

"Professor Dumbledore has kindly arranged this classroom for us," said Firenze, "in imitation of my natural habitat. I would have preferred to teach you in the Forbidden Forest, which was -- until Monday -- my home… but this is not possible."

Matt frowned, wondering why. Most of the class shared that thought.

"Please -- er -- sir--," Parvati said, breathlessly, "why not? We've been in there with Hagrid, we're not frightened!"

"It is not a question of bravery," said Firenaze, "but of my position. I can no longer return to the forest. My herd has banished me."

"Herd?" Lavender asked, looking confused.

"Lavender…" said Emily in a voice that questioned her sanity.

"Oh! There are _more of you?_" she suddenly gasped, looking shocked.

"Did Hagrid breed you, like the thestrals?" Dean Thomas asked eagerly.

Matt gasped while Lisa cried, "Dean!" Firenze turned his head very slowly to Dean, who realized he'd said something mortally offending, and had the decency to look ashamed.

"I… didn't… I meant… sorry," Dean said, his eyes falling.


	9. Chapter 9

"Centaurs are not the servants or playthings of humans," Firenze began, quietly. There was a pause, after which Parvati raised her hand. Lisa seemed to stiffen, thinking she'd be the next to say something offensive. She seemed nervous about centaurs for some reason.

"Please, sir… why have the other centaurs banished you?"

"Because I have agreed to work for Professor Dumbledore," Firenze said, "They see it as betrayal of our kind."

"What isn't? It seems like whatever you do, they'll kick your ribs in for it," muttered Malfoy to Caitlin. Having already been attacked by a forest creature a few years previous, he wasn't about to bad-mouth Firenze to his face, but the comments wouldn't stop behind his back.

"Well, he is only a part-human," Caitlin said, slightly louder, but not enough to make Firenze realize.

"Let us begin. Lie back on the floor," Firenze said, as the questions died out. He waved his hand around his head, pointing to the magically-created ceiling. The room became dimmer and darker. Stars began to appear above them… making quite a few people gasp. Matt giggled slightly, pointing at the stars, "It's like a planetarium…" was what he said. Emily thought this was quite beautiful… but it made her tired for some reason. Caitlin was unimpressed, and she and Jo exchanged bored looks before slumping against the tree stump.

"Observe the heavens. Here it is written, for those who can see, the fortune of our races. I know that you have learned the names of the planets and their moons in Astronomy, and that you have mapped the stars' progress through the heavens. Centaurs have unraveled the mysteries of these movements over centuries. Our findings teach us that the future may be glimpsed in the sky above us…"

Parvati interrupted at this point. Matt felt Lisa tense against him again, "Professor Trelawney did Astrology with us!" Her hand shot into the air, pointing at a red dot in the sky, "Mars causes accidents and burns and things like that, and when it makes an angle to Saturn, like now, that means people need to be extra careful when handling hot things-"

"That is human nonsense," Firenze said, calm as ever.

Emily snorted with laughter as Parvati's hand slammed limply to the ground.

Firenze continued, "Trivial hurts, tiny human accidents… these are of no more significance than the scurrying of ants to the wide universe, and are unaffected by planetary movements."

"Professor Trelawney…" Parvati began.

"Is a moron," Caitlin muttered, making the Slytherins giggle.

"… is a human," Firenze said.

"Are we _sure_ about that?" muttered Matt, causing a few more chortles.

"… and is therefore blinkered and fettered by the limitations of your kind."

Some of the people, Parvati and Lavender among them, looked offended at this, but said nothing.

"Sibyll Trelawney may have Seen, I do not know," continued Firenze, and they all learned that he was obviously mono-toned, which would make this class harder to deal with, "but she wastes her time, in the main, on self-flattering nonsense humans call fortune-telling. I, however, am here to explain the wisdom of the centaurs, which is impersonal and impartial. We watch the skies for the great tides of evil or change that are sometimes marked there. It may take ten years to be sure of what we are seeing."

"Which means it's entirely useless," summed up Jo.

"In the past decade, the indications have been that Wizard-kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars. Mars, bringer of battle, shines brightly above us, suggesting that the fight must break out again soon. How soon, the centaurs may attempt to divine by the burning of certain herbs and leaves, by observation of fume and flame, therefore telling when and where the fight will begin."

"Don't tell me…" Caitlin said, sitting up slightly.

"We're going to attempt this now. You will find barrels of sage and mallow sweet near the stumps. Take enough for a medium-sized fire, and wait for my instructions. 4 to a flame, please."

Matt, Lisa, Nathaniel, and Blaine each collected the ingredients and moved to the stump the Ravenclaw boys had been sitting on. Emily and Seth got the stuff and paired up with Ron and Harry. Caitlin, Malfoy, Jo, and Cait sat, looking extremely bored and carrying expressions that showed their unwillingness to believe this would work. Firenze told them to light them on fire, and observe the smoke and let the fumes wash over them.

"I just hope I don't get high off this stuff. Might get addicted," joked Nate as Lisa lit the batch.

"What do you see?" Matt said, trying, with some success, to imitate Professor Trelawney's mysterious voice.

"I see dead people…" Lisa said.

"That line is seriously cliqued…" groaned Nate.

"True. But I don't see anything else," Lisa sighed.

"Which is perfectly fine," said Firenze's voice from right behind her. She jumped. Firenze just smiled, "If you see anything resembling war: guns, bombs, weapons, any sort of evil face… let me know. If not, it won't be a shock or a disappointment."

He moved off and the Ravenclaws went back to starring at the sage and mallow sweet, Matt's eye drifting slightly…

Emily and Seth had as much luck. Ron wasn't really focusing on it, and Harry seemed to have other things on his mind, so the other two picked up the slack. However, they didn't' see anything.

"These fumes… they're making me nauseous," Seth said.

"They're not too terribly strong…" Emily said, eyebrow raised.

"See anything?" Ron asked, bored.

"Nope. The flame, fume, and smoke look perfectly hot and normal to me," Seth said, laying back down.

Emily concentrated. Seth sighed, and she saw something. Thinking she might've Seen, she waved Firenze over. Seth sighed again, and the same thing happened. She made the connection.

"You idiot," she smacked him in the back of the head, "Stop sighing into the flame!"

"Sorry," grimaced Seth, "Didn't realize I was disturbing your Inner Eye…"

"Do you need a beating?" Emily joked, but trying not to make it seem like one.

"Bring it on," Seth said, smirking as he sat up.

"Now there will be none of that," said Firenze, "Just observe the flames…"

Having had their little game destroyed, Seth and Emily returned to glaring at the flame, hoping something happened.

Caitlin and the other Slytheirns lit the flame, then went into gossiping. Cait relayed more stories about Azkaban and her trial, trying to keep a brave face. She confided in them that the Dementors were scary and terrorizing, and they agreed, but all knew Cait had changed from it. She was still an acid-tongued Slytherin, but not one that would go out of her way to make trouble.

"See anything?" she asked, after re-telling her Wizengamont trial over for the 80th time.

"Nope. Just a bunch of burning salt and mallow sweet," Goyle said, stupidly.

"Sage, you moron. Sage and Mallow sweet," Malfoy corrected his dim-witted friend.

"Yeah. If it was salt, it wouldn't burn," Caitlin said.

"… Oh," Goyle said, not having taken in a word of it.

"Here comes the mule himself," Millicent muttered.

Firenze came over. He looked into their fire, seemed slightly surprised, then turned away.

"That was awkward. Wonder what he was doing…" Caitlin muttered.

"Probably saw a vision of all the centaurs being wiped out by a forest fire, because of the 84 angle Mars is making to Saturn," said Cait, looking more bored than anyone, "And there is no way I'm returning. Screw Divination, I'm skipping it the rest of the year."

"Yeah. This is entirely pointless," Pansy agreed, kicking the fire out."

"Remember, everyone. It takes centaurs 10 years to be competent in this, humans are rarely ever good. Don't be disappointed if you can't see anything. There is no homework."

The bell rang. Matt jumped so bad he knocked over the waste-paper basket, and Emily swallowed the Chocolate Frog she was eating. They'd completely forgotten they were in the castle. The lights went back up and the door opened, and everyone began to file out.

"Wow. That was the strangest Divination Lesson ever. This is coming after having Trelawney for 3 years, mind you," said Blaine.

"Yeah. That was rather special. However, if there's a war coming up, I hope it doesn't involve us…" Matt said.

"It will. Especially Muggle-Borns," Nate said, grimly.

"Well, thanks, that makes me feel so much better," Matt said sarcastically.

"But at least you know the truth," said Lisa, "And you're prepared.

Emily and Seth moved out after them, but decided to do their homework outside. Out the front doors and into the chilly March air they walked, although the frigid air didn't bother them at this point. They sat in the courtyard, discussing the lesson.

"That made no sense. He wasn't clear on anything. But I did love how he kept saying that centaurs were sometimes wrong with what they saw," said Emily, amused.

"Yes, it really is stupid. I mean, how many people are actually going to see something that takes centaurs 10 years?" Seth sighed, scribbling some answers down for a Charms worksheet.

"Who knows. I just hope that the War doesn't have too many casualties. I want to learn to make Potions that will have a greater effect on people," Emily shrugged, standing up and stretching.

"Come on, class starts in five minutes," Seth said, putting the worksheet away.

The Slytherins emerged last, the door shutting behind them. They branched off: Millicent, Goyle, Crabe, and Pansy heading for the Great Hall, the rest for the Dungeons. Caitlin, Cait, Malfoy, and Jo were among the last few.

"Never again. I mean it, I'll hide out in the Potions room for the period," Cait was saying.

"No, the Hufflepuffs have a class at that time. I know," Malfoy said, "Because I tried skiving one day and that jerk, Zacharias Smith snitched. Took Madam Pomfrey about 3 hours to get the Golden Snitch out of his ear…"

"Let the punishment fit the crime," cackled Jo, "Be a Snitch, Get a Snitch."

"Jo, you're being stupid," Caitlin snapped.

"Yeah, whatever," Jo waved her hand and walked ahead.

"If we hurry, we can get some of our wonderful Potions homework done before the next lesson," Cait said.

"Or we could waste the time roasting the teachers that give us this terribly cruel amount of work and revel in the realization that they won't have a word to say against us," Josephine said, sneaking up behind them.

"You lost me after we. Try again," Caitlin said as they entered the Common Room.

The weekend was filled with homework. Even the Slytherins had skipped 3 nights worth of dungeon parties to do their alarmingly high amount of it. When the week began again, everyone dreaded going to class, knowing they'd walk away with great amounts of homework. Students, mainly 5th Years, began to tremble at the mere thought of another History of Magic Essay. Some seemed on the verge of tears, others on the verge of collapse. The stress of the O.W.L.s was on them, and it was really driving some people crazy. Thankfully, the Easter Holidays were on their way, but it was too late for some.

During Thursday's Double Herbology lesson, Matt, Lisa, Emily, and Seth were working with a special kind of fruit that could heal various poisons and wounds, though it needed to be carefully planted and watered just right. At the next table, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch Fletchley, Mateo Martine, and Ernie MacMillan were arguing slightly about something.

"Hannah, you added too much water," Mateo said, calmly.

"Wow, she can't even water a plant correctly," sighed Justin.

The watering can fell to the floor. Hannah froze, then, tears welled up. She collapsed, sobbing loudly. Many people turned to look, while Professor Sprout ran over.

"Hannah? Hannah, dear, what is it?" she said, looking frightened.

Caitlin and Jo laughed silently as Hannah sat up, hyper-ventilating and trying not to pass out from her stress.

"I… c-c-can't do it! I c-can't e-even water a p-p-plant!" she wailed, "I-I sh-shouldn't be allowed to take the O.W.L.'s! I'm not s-s-s-smart enough to t-t-take the exams! I-I sh-should just l-leave now!"

"There, there, it's alright," said Professor Sprout, patting her kindly, "Mr. Martine, please escort Miss Abbott to Madam Pomfrey."

Mateo nodded, supporting the still-hysterical Hannah.

"It's so weird because I was almost friends with Mateo," Matt muttered, watering the plant.

"Well, I don't feel sorry for her. If you get that worked up about these exams, you have problems," Emily said, rather loudly. A few of Hannah's friends glared daggers at her. Emily just gave them a cold, dead stare, and they relented.

"I'm terrified to take them myself," Matt muttered, "I might wind up just like her."

"No, you're not that bad, Matt," Seth said, quietly, "You know that it's not worth getting spazzed out about."

"I'm rather amazed that it wasn't a Ravenclaw that went berserk on us," said Pansy haughtily.

"It's because _we_ have good study skills, and _we_ don't have to worry about getting bad grades on our, _unbiased_ examinations," Melody spat.

Pansy glared at her, but Jack put his arm around her, so Pansy just glanced at Caitlin and Malfoy then went back to work.

There were a few more outbursts such as Hannah's, mainly from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, but they were easily fixed with a Calming Draught. Hannah was back to normal before the lesson ended, though quite embarrassed whenever the Slytherin girls would imitate her.

A week later, on an April Evening, there was another D. A. Meeting. Matt, Emily, Seth, Lisa, and Rachel showed up a little late, having been working on their homework and studying lightly since dinner. They moved to the back of the room, while Harry explained Patronuses.

"Remember, when you try to cast it, think of the happiest moment of your life. Or a very happy one at least, and concentrate on that, nothing more, nothing else. Um… and… remember, this is very difficult, so please don't be discouraged if you can't do it."

The Americans, Lisa, Seth, and Rachel moved to the back of the room. They saw Cho Chang, alone, preparing to cast her spell.

"Cho… where's Marietta?" Lisa asked, curiously.

"Not sure," Cho said, "Haven't seen her since dinner. She probably didn't feel like coming tonight."

"When did she ever?" Emily muttered under her breath, before moving to the opposite side of the room.

"Remember, think happy thoughts," said Matt, making Lisa and Rachel giggle slightly.

They each cast their spells. None managed it the first time, but everyone got silver vapor. Concentrating again, they attempted a second go. They had results. Something big formed out of Lisa's wand, something small out of Matt's, and a Horse out of Emily's. It galloped about 3 feet before disappearing. The third attempt, however, Rachel even got something. Emily's horse stayed, while a beautiful Panther burst out of Rachel's want, laying at her feet and cleaning itself. Lisa produced, to her delight, a coyote that howled in a haunting, hollow voice. Matt produced none other than a hummingbird that rocketed around the room. Out of nowhere, Cyclone flew in and chased it around, both spastically diving in and out of the rafters of the room. Seth didn't get anything.

They were on their 8th attempt, Seth still not getting anything, when the door flew open. They couldn't see who it was, then everyone looked down. A house-elf was standing at Harry's feet, looking terrified. Everyone froze, starring at Dobby.

"Harry Potter, sir…" Dobby stuttered, "Harry Potter, sir… Dobby has come to warn you… but the house-elves have been warned not to tell…"

He dove headfirst into a wall. Matt gasped, while a few others looked confused and scared. Harry, however, just seized the house elf after a couple tries. Lisa looked mortified at the amount of damage he seemed to be trying to do to himself.

"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asked, his voice calm but his eyes nervous.

"Harry Potter… she… she…"

Matt and Emily exchanged horrified glances. There could only be one "she" being referred to here.

Harry seemed to realize it, too. After seizing the fist Dobby tried to give himself a concussion with, he said, panicked, "Who's 'she,' Dobby?"

Dobby mouthed something. Harry gasped, "Umbridge?!?"

Dobby nodded. Matt felt his insides drop out, while nearly everyone in the room looked turned to stone from fear. Emily and Seth even looked scared.

"What about her? Dobby -- she hasn't found about this -- about us -- about the D. A.?"

Dobby nodded again, his face stricken. Then he tried to kick himself, but only succeeded in falling to the floor. The room was still silent.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked, quietly.

Dobby lost it. "YES! HARRY POTTER, YES!" he started to stomp his feet firmly into the ground, which looked painful. Everyone stared at him, transfixed.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" bellowed Harry, waving his arms, "RUN!"

Everyone flew to the door. Panic ensured as everyone tried to cram out at once, but, finally, it broke through and all 35 or so people streamed out. Matt, Lisa, and the rest of the Ravenclaw 5th Years went left, while Emily and Seth went right.

As they dashed along the corridor, Seth and Emily shot each other glances of horror. The people became less and less, as they each took their own personal ways out of trouble. Seth and Emily decided to head for the bathrooms ahead. Seth went right at the door, while Emily ran ahead. She knew she could make it…

WHAM!

Something feeling much like a kick slammed into her and she fell, sprawled out, onto the ground.

"Where are you going, you morons?!" Matt, skidding to a halt with Lisa and Rachel as Blaine, Nate, Jack, Dakota, Terry, Mandy, Padama, and Melody all headed towards a Corridor that lead, eventually, to the Common Room.

"We're going to the Common Room!" exclaimed Terry.

"No, they'll catch us! They're probably positioned at all the Common Rooms. We need to get to the Library or Owlery, that way we'll have an excuse," Lisa snarled.

"Good point. But hurry, I hear someone coming," Mandy said.

Everyone ran down the darkened hallway. In actuality, there were no torches anywhere in this hallway, so it was almost pitch-black. The footsteps came nearer, and, seeing no other opportunity, they all hid in a small enclosure near a window. It was open to the hallway, however, and not a permanent hiding place. The footsteps grew even nearer.

"Search down here, my dears. I'll go see who else we can round up," came the simpering voice of Professor Trelawney.

"Got it," Montague's rough voice answered.

The Ravenclaws all drew back. On his left, Matt could feel Rachel shaking. On his right, Lisa's breathing was shallow and ragged. The rest of his friends showed various signs of horror, but none made a sound.

"Keep your eyes open," came the grunting voice of Crabbe.

"That's the smartest thing you've ever said, Vincent," Montague said, sounding… proud. Matt saw Jack and Blaine make faces of disgust at the pride, and he almost laughed.

The enclosure was fine for 1 person, but there was no way nearly a dozen teenagers were going to go unnoticed. Thinking quickly, Matt saw a mirror on the other hallway. And… another one directly opposite. Thinking about light reflection, Matt pulled out his wand. The others stirred, and Blaine muttered a warning of some sort. Matt ignored this and said, quietly, "Shield eyes."

The Slytherins were almost upon them. Giving everyone 3 seconds to follow his command, Matt aimed at the mirror.

"Lumos Solarum…" he muttered.

The light burst from his wand, bouncing off the one mirror, to the other, and straight into the faces of the Slytherins, who, with eyes wide, were blinded. The light was 3 times brighter than the sun, thanks to the mirrors, and gave the Ravenclaws plenty of time to run.

And run they did. None of them had ever run faster in their lives. Down one flight of stairs, through another tapestry, opening the 3rd door from the water fountain… they moved so fast they couldn't even remember exactly what they did. Matt was dragging Rachel, who wasn't the fastest, although he was slowing down, too. They made it to the Common Room, all breathing heavily, but they weren't caught. They were safe.

Close to 20 Slytherins had been called in by Umbridge that evening. It was nearly 8:30 when they all arrived, while a house elf was dusting off the dishes of Professor Umbridge's Technicolor kitten planes. She was grinning evilly for some unknown reason, and they all knew something big was up.

"My dears, it has finally happened," she sang, "Someone has broken my decree! And by someone, I mean dozens of people!"

"Someone had _The Quibbler_ out in front of her?" muttered someone.

"No… no, no, no, no. It is MUCH worse than that. MUCH worse. They've broken the Decree forbidding all Teams that aren't allowed by me. There is a group, I've been informed, that is doing inappropriate things. However, there are many, many students at this room, on the 7th floor, and I'm going to need help rounding everyone up."

"What if they don't listen? What should we do?" Malfoy asked, innocently.

"Hmm… that is a good point. If they resist in anyway, I authorize the use of spells against them," said Umbridge evilly, her wide, slack mouth curling at the corners.

Before they left, they saw Dobby begin to sneak out. Cait looked down upon him. "Say nothing, elf," she snarled. He nodded feebly and dashed away.

With looks of glee among the students, they trudged out, splitting into smaller groups. Jo and Caitlin ran ahead, using a few secret passageways they knew of. Thus, they were first to arrive on the 7th floor. To their displeasure, they saw students running in every direction.

"Fuck. They've been tipped off," snarled Caitlin.

"By who? We were the only ones…" Jo groaned, watching the Hufflepuffs trip over each other in an effort to get away.

"That House Elf, probably," Caitlin snarled.

"Come on. We'll catch them on the run. They're resisting, you know," Jo cackled evilly.

"Steak out at the girl's toilets. Hurry," said Caitlin.

They ran back down the secret passageway they'd come up. From there, they took a left, diving behind a statue of a famous wizard. They waited in silence. After 5 minutes, they began to give up hope when they heard feet coming towards them.

Caitlin peered out around the corner. To her ecstasy, there was Emily. Her hair flying behind her as she ran towards the bathroom, she aimed her wand at the girl's legs. The Phantasmal Kick should do nicely…

"Phasmatis Tentatio!" she shouted.

As though she'd been kicked in back of her legs, Emily tripped. She flew to the ground, sliding across it on her stomach and chest. The wind knocked out of her, she was next to helpless when Jo and Caitlin walked upon her.

"Well, well, well… looks like we got another one for expelling," Jo cackled.

"Yep. Let's take her to Umbridge," Caitlin said, her want pointed at her enemy.

Emily was angry, but not to the point of insanity. She knew full well (grudgingly, but still knew) that she couldn't take on both Slytherins, especially with more probably right around the corner. Standing slowly and silently, she glared at Caitlin, who had a superior look on her face. They marched her down the corridor, past the boys' bathroom, and down the stairs. As they were reaching the 5th floor, however, they met Pansy Parkinson.

"Caitlin, you need to come with me to check the bathrooms and Owlery," Pansy ordered.

"Did you find anything?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes," smirked, "They left a list. Everyone who signed that list is way beyond screwed."

_Hermione, you moron!_ Emily thought, not letting the slight spasm of horror she felt reach her face. _You said you'd never leave it lying around…_

Her spirits dampened greatly, Emily allowed Jo to take her down the stairs again, until they reached Dumbledore's Office. Jo didn't look at her, and she was biting her lip slightly. Emily sensed weakness, and, when they got to the Gargoyle, she said, innocently, "Maybe you should go help the others. I'll go peacefully."

"… Right. Fizzing Whiz… oh, Professor!" gasped Jo as the Gargoyle sprang aside and Professor Umbridge tottered out, looking very happy. Emily instantly knew her situation had worsened.

"Ah… another one. One of those nasty Americans, dear me. Well, it looks like you shall not be in this school much longer, no you won't," she said happily, before going down the hall. Emily twitched slightly, wondering whether or not she'd get out of this.

"Go on," Jo said, then turned and left. Emily could tell Jo didn't have as strong a character as she tried to pass off. Knowing this could be to her advantage, she climbed the rotating staircase and went to the door. It was only her second time, but this time it wasn't a willing visit. She pushed open the door.

The scene that greater her surprised her greatly. Besides Dumbledore, there was a bunch of others, some she knew, others she didn't. Harry, Professor McGonagall, and Cornelius Fudge were among those she recognized. A tall, bald, black wizard stood on one side of him, while another tough-looking wizard with wiry, short hair on the other, seeming to act as his guard. She glanced left and saw a red-haired young man, with his wire-framed glasses and a bit of parchment and ink and a quill in his hands. _Looks like Ron…_ she thought, then snapped back to reality. She finally fully realized everyone there was from the Ministry of Magic. The realization made her realize how serious it was. Any thoughts of wise cracks and scathing remarks vanished, and her common sense took over.

Fudge and the other wizards glanced at her with smug looks. The red-haired boy scribbled something down.

"Is this the informant?" asked Fudge.

Harry glanced at Emily.

"No," said Emily, eyebrow raised, "I was just told to come here. I did."

"Ah. So you must be one of them," Fudge said, "Do _you_ know why you're here?"

"Not a clue," Emily said, shrugging.

"Hmm… and you are not aware, I'm sure, that a secret organization was found?" Fudge said, seemingly towards the hysterical point. Emily worried, or rather hoped, that he would go into cardiac arrest momentarily, but she responded with a surprised look, "Are you serious!?" she gasped, "I can't believe _anyone_ would undermine the Ministry of Magic!"

Harry's expression twitched. Fudge looked angry, his face turning red. Emily remained in front of the door. Professor McGonagall looked slightly frightened. She noticed the portraits in the office looked very serious about something. Fawkes remained on his perch, and she was very tempted to walk over and pat him. When a minute passed, with nothing happening, she did just that. The bird cocked his head, and enjoyed being scratched under his chin. Dumbledore smiled, although the Ministry Officials gave stony looks.

Finally, after another couple minutes, the door opened. Emily whirled around to see who was to blame for this. First came Umbridge. She was pulling at something, dragging the figure forward.

"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened," Professor Umbridge was saying as the person was lead into the room. They finally got a clear view as to who it was.

_That BITCH!_ Emily thought angrily.

Marietta Edgecombe was being dragged into the doorway, that preppy Ravenclaw. Emily had always disliked her for some reason, and now the hatred was set. She was hiding her face, and Emily was very curious as to what the reason was…

"It's quite alright, now. You have done the right thing. The Minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been," Umbridge was saying, patting the girl on the head. Then she turned to Fudge, "Marietta's mother is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network office. She's been helping us police the Hogwarts fires, you know."

"Jolly good, jolly good!" Fudge said, happily, "Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to…"

At that moment, Emily watched as Marietta's face was raised. The sight that was seen was enough to allow a small hiccup of hysterical laughter to escape. Emily suppressed the laughter as Marietta wailed, Fudge freaked and jumped into the fire, and Dumbledore looked slightly shocked. The girl's face was covered by small, purple, pustules that spelled SNEAK across her entire face. It made her look like something out of a horror movie, which was something Emily was very impressed with.

"Never mind the spots now, dear," Umbridge said shrilly, "just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister…"

Marietta wailed, Emily snickered. Professor McGonagall shot her a warning look and she just coughed into her hands.

"Oh, very well, you silly girl, _I'll_ tell him," snapped Umbridge, but became bright and cheery when she faced the minister, "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceed to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further, and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point this hex came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror, the girl became too distressed to tell me anymore."

"Well, now," said Fudge rather affectionately, "It is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"

Another wail. Fudge looked furious now.

"Haven't we got a counterjinx for this?" Fudge snarled, "So she can speak freely?"

"I have not yet managed to find one," Umbridge said, looking at the floor. Emily did her best to keep her face straight, knowing they could probably never find one, "But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take the story from here. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade…" 

"And what is your evidence for that?" Professor McGonagall said, suddenly.

"I have testimony from Will Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be at the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true…" (Emily remembered the mummy-looking thing that kept gulping down fire whiskey "… but his hearing was quite unimpaired. He heard every word Potter said and hastened straight to the school to report to me…"

"Oh, so _that's_ why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets. What an interesting insight to our justice system…"

Emily had to agree: it was pretty stupid. She began thinking about all sorts of other things that had been done in governments in that light, and zoned out for about half a minute. Her focus returned in time for Fudge to be bouncing up and down, a sight that terrified the girl.

"… latest cock-and-bull story designed to get Potter out of trouble! Go on then, Dumbledore! Widdershins was lying, was he? Or it was Potter's identical twin at the Hog's Head that day? Or is there the simple explanation involving the reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?"

A hearty laugh came from the corner. The redhead, dropping some parchment, bleated, "Of, very good, Minister, very good." Emily knew it had to be Percy. _What a prick_, she thought with contempt.

"Cornelius, I do not deny, and nor, I assume, do Harry and Emily, that they were in the Hog's Head that day, nor that Harry was trying to recruit students for the Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am merely pointing out that Dolores is quite wrong to suggest that such a group was, at the time, illegal. If you remember, the Ministry decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after Harry's Hogsmeade meeting, so he was not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all."

The stopped. Percy looked stunned, Fudge was stopped in mid-bounce, and Umbridge looked like she had choked on a fly. She countered, eventually with, "That's all very fine, Headmaster, but we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."

"Well," Dumbledore said, simply, "that certainly _would_ be true, if they _had continued_ after the decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that these meetings continued?"

"Evidence?" Umbridge repeated with a toady smile, "Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?"

"Oh, can she tell us about six months' worth of meetings?" said Dumbledore, raising his eyebrows, "I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight."

"Miss Edgecombe, tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply not and shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months? Just nod or shake your head, dear. Come on, now, that won't activate the jinx further…"

Emily held her breath. This was it. They were screwed. Then, to her shock, Marietta, slowly, shook her head. Everyone was slightly taken aback… except Dumbledore.

"I don't think you understood the question, did you, dear?" Umbridge said after glancing at Fudge, "I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months. You have, haven't you?" she said, voice rising slightly.

Marietta shook her head again. Emily smirked.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?" Umbridge asked, getting slightly angry.

"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear," Professor McGonagall said harshly, "There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

Mareitta shook her head. Emily wanted to dance.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" Umbridge said, losing her cool, "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not, Potter organized it, Potter… WHY ARE YOU SHAKING YOUR HEAD?!"

"Usually," said Emily and Professor McGonagall at the same time, "When a person shakes their head, they mean 'no.' So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as of yet unknown to humans…"

They broke off, glancing at each other, eyebrows raised. Neither expected to speak in unison at a completely random moment. The 'moment' was shattered when Umbridge leapt forward, seized Mareitta, and began to shake her very hard. Dumbledore stood up, wand in hand, looking angry.

"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," he said, also slightly losing his cool.

"You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge," the black wizard said, "You don't want to get yourself in trouble now…"

"No," said Umbridge breathlessly, looking terrified at the much-taller wizard, "I mean… yes… you're right, Shacklebolt. I… I forgot myself."

Emily wondered vaguely why Marietta didn't seem to realize she'd been attacked by a teacher, something that would have normally landed Umbridge in jail in America. She turned her attention back to the adults.

"Dolores," Fudge said, sounding very annoyed now, "the meeting tonight, the one we know definitely happened…"

"Yes, yes…" Umbridge said, shaking her head to gather her thoughts, "well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off. I proceeded to the seventh floor at once, accompanied by certain _trustworthy_ students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor, they were running in every direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their names here. Miss Parkinson ran into the Room of Requirement for me to see if they had left anything behind… We needed evidence, and the room provided…"

She produced the paper, the one they'd signed in the Hog's Head. Emily cursed Hermione's lack of memory and prayed a lightning bolt struck the parchment before Fudge read it.

"The moment I saw Potter's name on the list, I knew what we were dealing with," she said softly, as though it was something traumatizing for her and it was very painful to re-live it. Emily hoped it was.

"Excellent," said Fudge, "Excellent, Dolores. And… by thunder…"

Emily knew what was happening. They'd seen the title.

"Look what they named themselves?" Fudge gasped, "_Dumbledore's Army!"_

Emily watched Dumbledore. For the merest second, she saw a flicker of confusion cross it. He must've gotten a plan right away because he stood up and walked over to Fudge, arm extended. Fudge numbly gave him the parchment and he glanced at it, not able to speak. Then, to her amazement, he looked up and smiled.

"Well. The game is up," he said, in a cheerful voice, "Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius, or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"

"Statement?" Fudge said, looking lost, "What… I… don't…?"

"_Dumbledore's Army_¸ Cornelius," Professor Dumbledore said, smiling benignly, "Not Potter's Army, _Dumbledore's Army_!"

"But… But…" Fudge said, goggling at him. Then, very slowly, understanding dawned upon him. As it did, it seemed all his fears were realized, and he seemed to snap back. He leapt back… into the fire again… and Emily felt herself grin as he jumped back out and stamped out his cloak, "You?"

"That's right," Dumbledore said, happily.

"You organized this?" Fudge asked.

"I did," said Dumbledore.

"You recruited these students for… your… for your army?" Fudge gasped.

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting," Dumbledore said. Emily was amazed at his ability to lie so quickly and flawlessly, "Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course."

Marietta nodded. Emily looked past her to see Umbridge. The woman's eyes were bulging, and she looked half terrified and half ecstatic. Surely this meant she'd be placed in command, and, if that happened… there'd be hell to pay.

"Then you _have_ been plotting against me!" he accused.

"That's right," Dumbledore said, cheerful as ever.

"NO!" Harry shouted, making Emily jump, "No, Professor…"

"Harry, sh!" Emily snarled.

"Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office," said Dumbledore as calm as ever.

"Yes, SHUT UP, POTTER!" roared Fudge, dancing slightly, "Well, well, well… I cam here tonight expecting to expel Potter and instead…"

"Instead you get to arrest me," Dumbledore said, smiling, "It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?"

"Weasley!" cried Fudge, still bobbing up and down, "Weasley, have you written it all down? Everything he's said, his confessions… have you got it?"

"Yes, sir, I think so, sir!" said Percy, who was also dancing with ink all over his face.

"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?!"

"Yes, sir, I've got it, yes!" Percy smirked.

"Very well, then," Fudge said, almost glowing with glee, 'Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the _Daily Prophet_ at once. If we get a fast owl, we should make the morning edition!"

Percy dashed so fast that ink got all over again and the door was slammed so hard that one of the portraits fell off the wall.

You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trial!"

"Ah…" Dumbledore said, gently, "yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag."

"Snag?" said Fudge, still exuberant, "I see no snag, Dumbledore."

"Well… I'm afraid I do," replied Dumbledore, sounding, to Emily's amazement, sorry.

"Oh really?" said Fudge, his voice getting slightly more dangerous.

"Well… it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I'm going to… what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course… but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I'd rather be doing."

Emily took the chance again to glance at everyone. Umbridge looked like a big, red balloon. Fudge looked like he'd just been slammed in the face. Harry and Professor McGonagall looked scared and angry at once.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," Dumbledore said a moment later, and Emily started. She hadn't noticed the man drop his hand towards his pocket, obviously to get his wand, "I'm sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your NE.W.T.s, but if you attempt to… er… 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

The man blinked, looking like a fool. Emily smiled evilly again. Fudge recovered first.

"So, you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you Dumbledore?"

"Merlin's beard, no," Dumbledore replied, "No unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

"He will not be single-handed!" Professor McGonagall shouted, her hand flying into her own robes. Emily began to do the same, but Dumbledore stopped them.

"Oh yes he will, Minerva! Hogwarts needs you! And Emily, don't throw away your life for this."

They grudgingly withdrew their hands without wands.

"Enough of this rubbish!" Fudge shouted, "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! _Take him!_"

It happened so fast that Emily could barely remember it later. The two wizards, Fudge, and Umbridge started towards Dumbledore, and there was a bright, silver flash. Emily was blinded and suddenly forced to the ground, ½ strangled. The floor shook, and dust began to rise instantly. A whirl of screams, shrieks, those of both paintings and the Ministry Officials, whirled around her as she kept her head down. Just visible, she saw a vague outline of a short, tubby person fall in front of her, with a strangled cry of "No!" The floor stopped shaking, the dust began to settle, and the last moan from Fudge was heard. She stood, slowly, because the wrist around her neck prevented her from moving any faster. She'd seen Professor McGonagall grab her and Harry, although Marietta was still standing in the middle of the room, an expression on her face that reminded Emily of Luna Lovegood

"Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked as he walked forward from the dust.

"Yes!" Professor McGonagall gasped, dragging Harry to his feet.

"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley, too, or it would've looked very suspicious. He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way. Thank him for me, won't you, Minerva?"

Emily figured the conversation didn't concern her, so she turned to survey the wreckage. The bodies of Fudge, Umbridge, Shacklebolt, and Dawlish were lying in random places. Umbridge was on her face, Kingsley was propped up against the wall, Dawlish had been thrown on the table, and Fudge was ½ in the fire again. The headmaster portraits were all disfigured slightly, a few unlucky ones on the floor. Almost every table and chair was overturned, and Emily saw everything was broken. She wondered whether this would affect Dumbledore or not.

"Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate… you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground… they will not remember…"

"Where will you go, Dumbledore? Grimmauld Place?" breathed Professor McGonagall, looking stricken.

"Oh no. I am not leaving to go into hiding," Dumbledore replied, smiling grimly, "Fudge will soon wish he had never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you…"

He turned to Emily and Harry. To the first, he said, "Miss Davis, I request that you tread very carefully from now on. Do your best and study hard. I don't want to have an exchange student expelled by a corrupt staff member…"

"Yes… sir…" Emily replied, wondering if she could actually keep that promise.

"Professor Dumbledore…" began Harry.

"Listen to me, Harry…" Dumbledore began, sounding urgent for the first time, "you must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything Professor Snape tells you and practice it, particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams… you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me…"

Emily noticed the four on the floor stirring. She wondered if they had lasting injuries. She knew this was highly unlikely as it was Dumbledore that hexed them, but she really hoped he wasn't being as lenient as usual.

Dumbledore continued to plead, "Remember… close your mind… you will understand…"

Fawkes swooped down and Dumbledore grabbed onto his tail feathers. In a flash of bright flame, they were gone.

"Where is he?" roared Fudge, standing up from the ground, his cloak smoldering again, "Where is he?!"

Emily acted as though she'd just gotten up from the attack, she shook her head slightly for emphasis. It must've worked because no one asked questions.

"I don't know!" shouted Kingsley, also standing,


	10. Chapter 10

"Well, he can't have Disapparated!" shrieked Umbridge, her voice shrill and her face red and bruised, "You can't inside this school…"

"The stairs!" Dawlish yelled, flinging himself at the door with just a bit more drama than the situation required.

"Yes, very good, those are the stairs…" Emily couldn't help but say.

"Miss Davis, _hold your tongue_," hissed Professor McGonagall.

Everyone, except Fudge, darted towards the stairs. When the last foot disappeared, only Fudge, McGonagall, and the 3 students remained.

"Well, Minerva," Fudge said at last, "I'm afraid this is the end for your friend Dumbledore…"

"You think so, do you?" said Professor McGonagall coldly.

"You'd better get these students off to bed," said Fudge, acting as though he didn't hear the reply.

"Let's go," Professor McGonagall said, walking them out.

As they left, however, Emily saw the list from the Room of Requirement. While Fudge's back was turned, she pocketed it.

They reached the bottom of the rotating stairs and split up. Professor McGonagall led Marietta to the hospital wing, while Harry and Emily silently returned to Gryffindor Tower to inform everyone of what had just happened.

After about ½ an hour, Matt sat up in the Ravenclaw Common Room. He and the rest of the Ravenclaw D. A. member were sitting in their own small corner of the room and discussing what had just happened. But, he had a strange feeling that something wasn't right. So, he was going to do the last thing he probably should have done at the time: explore the corridors.

"I'll be back later," he informed his friends, standing and walking towards the door.

Almost instantly, Lisa, Rachel, and Luna were with him. He blinked and looked around, "Um… if we all go…"

"We'll have more than one person to give an excuse. We're on the way to the Owlery to see our owls," Rachel said simply.

"Yes. It's not that hard to lie to Slytherins, after all…" Lisa said.

"Let's go…" said Luna vaguely as they approached the exit.

They were just going up the last floor to the Owlery when they collided with a tall, lanky, red-head. He slammed into Matt, cursed, dropped his notes, and then tripped over Rachel.

"Sorry!" gasped Rachel, helping the man to his feet.

Luna smiled at him and nodded. Matt looked, too, and Lisa took in a sharp breath behind him. He turned and saw half fear and half indignation on her face. But she managed to make her voice level and sweet.

"Sorry, sir, are you alright?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, yes, and I need a fast owl!" said the red-headed man, picking up his papers in a disorderly fashion.

"Are you Ron's brother?" asked Luna curiously, studying him with her wide eyes.

"Yes… I am. Percy Weasley, Junior Assistant to…" Percy began.

"Right. Well, we're on the way to the Owlery right now actually. If you want, we can send you those note for you?" said Matt, trying to be friendly.

"No, I must find a fast owl. These notes will be of vital importance to the Daily Prophet regarding the recent Potter and Dumbledore fiascos. And you're all very lucky: his reign of Hogwarts has ended, and, as Ravenclaws, you must realize this will only allow the curriculum to get better…" 

"He's leaving? Why?" Matt gasped, looking shocked.

"And it's about time," Rachel said, elbowing Matt slightly, "I mean… he's been ruining my entire first year."

"Yeah… I know… it's my first year, actually, and he's not helping me at all," Matt said.

"Well… you see…" Percy launched into his story as they climbed the Owlery stairs. When they entered, Matt saw Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones standing in a corner, writing a VERY long letter. They gave the Ravenclaws terrified stares, but they winked and warned then the coast was clear.

"So, you see, we must get these notes to the _Daily Prophet_ before it's too late," Percy concluded his rather lengthy explanation.

"I know! Use Matt's Hummingbird!" Rachel said, happily.

"… hummingbird?" Percy blinked.

"Yeah. OY! CYCLONE!" Matt called.

The bird pelted out of the group of owls as a blur. He flew around the room twice before Matt caught him.

"He is super fast and super smart. He'll be there before you can Disapparate!" Matt said, confidently.

"Well. I'm convinced. I must see if the Minister needs my help anyway," Percy said, happily, "And can I have your names? I'm sure Professor Umbridge and Minister Fudge will want to keep in touch…'

"Cho Chang," Lisa said.

"Josephine Vincent," Rachel added.

"Gregoria Goyle," Luna said, vaguely.

"Zacharias Smith," Matt said, barely containing a laugh.

"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me…" said Percy, handing the notes to Matt and bustling off.

"So… Dumbledore's… gone?" Rachel gasped, looking mortified.

"Damn you, Percy Weasley. I don't know what change you, but I wish it hadn't," Lisa said, angrily.

"That was Ron's brother?" asked Matt.

"Yep. A right stick-up-the-ass kinda guy, too. He's so… stingy and stickly and… argh… he makes me so mad, especially since he's turned into a Fudge Follower…"

"Well. Let's just send these off then…" Matt said, tying the wad of notes to the leg of his hummingbird and throwing him out into the darkness.

"Matt! Why'd you do that?" Rachel gasped, "Now the _Daily Prophet _will get wind of this and…"

"I wouldn't worry…" Luna said, smiling at the window Cyclone flew out.

"Exactly. The reason I suggested Cyclone…" Matt said, "Is because…"

The bird flew back in the window and landed on Matt's shoulder.

"… he has no sense of direction. He'd get lost on the way to the bathroom if I wasn't leading him on," Matt said, patting the confused-looking bird fondly.

"Cait, I don't think we're getting anyone else," sighed Jo.

Caitlin Murphy, Jo, and Cait Raub had just finished searching the 6th floor corridors for the 8th time. They'd not found anyone since Emily and Harry, and it seemed the others had escaped.

"It doesn't matter. When we get that list, Umbridge will expel everyone on it and that'll be the end of that," Cait said, smirking as she joined them.

"Finally. We can get rid of the Mudbloods, Weasleys, Potter, and those people I'm sorry to say I share citizenship with," spat Caitlin.

"C'mon, let's go report," Jo said, walking forward. As they turned the corner, they saw three hunched-over shapes.

"Crabbe! Goyle! Montague!" Cait snapped, "What are you three morons doing?"

"We got blinded by someone… they used some sort of really bright spell," Montague croaked.

"Yeah… I can't see!" Crabbe moaned.

"Open your eyes, duh! We gotta go report, c'mon!" Caitlin snarled.

The group made their way towards Dumbledore's office. When they arrived, however, they saw a weird scene. Besides the rest of the Slytherin "Helpers," they saw Professor Umbridge screaming at the gargoyle.

"FIZZING WHIZBEE! OPEN YOU! I AM THE NEW HEADMISTRESS!" shouted the toad.

The gargoyle remained immovable. Umbridge lost it and started pounding, kicking, swearing, screaming, even casting a curse at the guard. It wouldn't move. As she threw her temper tantrum that slowly turned into a conniption fit, a few of the Slytherins fond it hard to keep straight faces. Caitlin and Jo, who hated the woman anyway, laughed silently as she stubbed her toes after she slammed them against the gargoyle's left wing.

She gave up about 5 minutes later, having decided it was sealed up tight. She then sighed and lead the nearly 20 students back to her Office. Once there, she sat and rubbed her toes, frowning. That frown turned to a grin, however, when an owl arrived. She opened the envelope and read greedily. She cackled and looked up, eyes bulging and mouth smiling widely.

"It is finally time, everyone. The moment we've all been waiting for. Dumbledore is gone," she paused.

All the Slytherins cheered, clapped, and whistled.

"And now… my real plans for this school can begin to take shape. First, as High Inquisitor, I am making a special group of students known as the Inquisitorial Squad. I need you to round up as many trustworthy students as possible, so that we may recruit them for my Squad."

"And what would we do, ma'am?" Malfoy asked maliciously.

"To maintain complete control over the students, I need more than just teacher's help," Umbridge began, "As members of the Inquisitorial Squad, you will be able to not only deal out detentions and punishments, but you may take points away, too."

"So it's basically Prefects Deluxe?" Jo muttered.

"No. You'll be doing much, much more than prefects. Things that may require you to miss classes," she laughed.

"So… get out of class, docking points, what else is in it for us?" Caitlin said, not convinced yet.

"When you graduate, as long as you've been a member of my squad, anything Ministry related will go to you before non-Squad members," Umbridge simpered.

"I'm in. I'd be happy to serve Hogwarts and our new… Headmistress," Malfoy smirked.

"How did you know?" smiled Umbridge.

"The paper. It's Educational Decree Number 28, and you are the official Head of Hogwarts now," Malfoy said, pointing to the letter she just got.

"So… you run Hogwarts now?" Goyle asked, stupidly.

"Yes, Gregory. I am the Ruler of Hogwarts," said Umbridge gleefully.

The next morning, everyone awoke to a surprise. The signs that had so often plagued Hogwarts in the past year were back. With groans that turned to terror, everyone read them:

----------By the Order of----------

**THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

_The above is in accordance with_

_Educational Decree Number Twenty-Eight_

This time, it was a Ministry of Magic seal under the name with Cornelius Fudge's signature. Apparently, they'd passed another new Decree, which made some people very angry.

"You know… I wanna know _exactly_ what those damn decrees say," Lisa said the day after this had all happened, "I'm going to find out tomorrow…"

So she, Matt, Luna, and Rachel all went to the Library the next morning, before Lunch. They found Madam Pince replacing books that had been thrown randomly on the desks.

"Do you have a book on those Educational Decrees?" Matt asked, as they arrived.

"Yes," snapped Madam Pince, "I do. Have to keep replacing them because so many more get added…"

They were handed a few large, leather-bound books on the Educational Decrees. Over the next half hour, they read through the books, trying to find out what the most recent ones meant.

"What amuses me about this," Rachel muttered, "Is that the last Educational Decree before 22 was passed back in 1895. Something about salaries being set for certain subjects. And this year alone, we've had six so far."

"And I found a nice passage here that is about what exactly the decrees say in their "official" terms," Matt said, shoving the book at everyone.

"Educational Decree Number 22," read Luna, "Should a Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts be unable to fill a teaching position at the school by one week prior to start of first term, the Ministry of Magic has the right to appoint a qualified wizard or witch, to ensure that students get the most out of the lesson."

"Passed August 25th. How convenient," Lisa commented.

"Educational Decree Number 23," Matt read, "If standards of teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are too low for Ministry expectations, the Minister of Magic has the right to place a 'High Inquisitor' to inspect and, if need be, remove unsatisfactory staff members if they can't make the grade. This is to ensure the best of the staff can "

"Another convenient one. I wonder how long it took them to come up with that," Rachel muttered.

"Educational Decree Number 24," Lisa recited, "All groups, societies, organizations, and teams must be registered to the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. This is because certain groups, like occults, can be formed without knowledge and can be very dangerous to a students schooling career. Anymore than 3 people is considered the above. When permission is granted, the group may continue as usual."

"I'm beginning to see a patter," Matt said, "Educational Decree Number 25. The High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions, and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions, and removals of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members."

"That the wordiest one yet, and the most retarded. She became unstoppable with this one," Lisa sighed.

"And it's worse, now that she's the Head," Rachel said, nodding.

"Educational Decree Number 26," Luna read, "All teachers are to refrain from speaking of any events, issues, or bits of information not directly related to the topics they are paid to teach. This is so students may get the best learning experience in the allotted class times as possible, and so no student can be persuaded to do something or hear anything of a sensitive nature. Isn't this the one Lee Jordan got detention for joking about?"

"I love how they keep saying, 'For the students…,'" Matt said, "It's like they're doing all this to benefit us, rather than control us."

"And if anyone thought these were unfair, they'd just have to read these decrees and they'd think it really was benefiting us. I'll admit, the Ministry is smarter than we give them credit for," Lisa said, grudgingly.

"Educational Decree Number 27," Rachel read, "Some publications are dangerous and inappropriate for students to read. These writings should be forbidden on school grounds. Among the forbidden publications are the _Quibbler._ Students found in possession of these dangerous publications should be dealt with in the strictest manner possible, for all the good of the student and teaching body."

"That decree really helped Daddy," Luna smiled, "So many students and staff bought copies we had to reprint. Twice!"

"Last one… well… so far anyway. Educational Decree 28," Matt said, "And it's just like 22 or whatever… 'Should the Head of Hogwarts be removed for reasons including but not limited to, death, prolonged sickness, extended vacation, arrest, fugitiveness, etc, the Ministry of Magic has the right to appoint a new Head. Priority is always given to the High Inquisitor, who has experience in administration work already. This is to benefit the students and staff so that supreme learning expectations can be met."

"So Umbridge has done what she's planned to do," sighed Lisa, rubbing her forehead. She took of her barrette for a moment, even, "and now she's top dog."

"She could even make Professor Trelawney leave now," said Rachel.

"Well, we can't do much about it at this point," Matt said, standing and stretching, "And I really want to play DDR. Let's go eat lunch and get some work done…"

"Yes… that sounds like a good idea…" Luna added, and then started humming Dub-I-Dub under her breath.

"I just hope we don't get in trouble for eating with the wrong forks," said Rachel as they left the books on the table and left the Library.

A few floors down, Seth and Emily had seen the signs and immediately gone into rants about Umbridge. They'd escaped the Common Room after nearly 30 different people begging Emily to tell the story for the nearly 50th time. Now that she knew what Harry had to go through, she understood why he flew off the handle occasionally, even to his friends. Seth had listened in awe to the story, but then added that Dumbledore would be back before long.

"Not as long as Umbridge is around," Emily sighed, after she and Seth turned the corner to the first floor. They were heading for an empty room to do their homework peacefully in, and the first one they found was Classroom 9, next to Firenze's Room. There was no sound from 11, so they assumed the centaur wasn't in there.

"What glorious homework have we got today?" asked Seth, sitting at a desk.

"Potions, Astronomy, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts," Emily said, riffling through the parchments with her essay headings on top, "And we must practice the Summoning Charm and Vanishing Spells," Emily sighed.

"Let's go in the order you mentioned, but delete Defense Against the Dark Arts," Seth said, ripping up the assignment sheet for that class.

"Do I hear what I think I hear? Not doing homework that the High Inquisitor assigned?" came a rough voice.

Both turned to see Montague standing before them. He had a silver badge with an I on it pinned to his chest, and he looked positively delighted to see them.

"And?" Emily asked impatiently.

"I say 10 points from each of you to start with would be a good punishment," Montague smirked.

"What? You can't do that… you're not even a prefect," Seth snarled.

"I'm on the Inquisitorial Squad. That means I CAN do that. So. 10 more points from you for saying no to me…"

"What's the Inquisitorial Squad?" Emily asked defiantly.

"It s a group of trustworthy students who help the new Headmistress patrol the halls and police some of the more… potent… students," Montague replied.

"Wow. I bet potent is a big word for you," came a voice.

"Our little Monty is growing up," came a forced-high-pitched voice to answer.

Montague whirled around, his face glowing, "Fred and George Weasley. Well. Looks like I'll have to dock some points from you, too."

"Try it," said Fred as he and George stepped out of the shadows.

"Fine… Let's start with…" Montague began.

Before he could say anything, Fred and George had grabbed onto him and were shoving him forward.

"Open the cabinet," said Fred, airily.

Emily moved to a cabinet that happened to be a few feet away. The twins shoved the ogre-like Slytherin into it and slammed the door. The cabinet glowed a bright silver and vanished suddenly. Seth and Emily gasped, Fred and George grinned.

"Vanishing Cabinet. We won't have any more trouble from Monty, I promise you," George said, snickering.

"That's awesome. Where'd he go?" Emily queried.

"No idea," said Fred lightly.

"Well. Let's go, then. There's no getting out of helping us this time," George said, holding out a crate for Seth to take.

"The fireworks?" Seth asked, grinning mischievously.

"Yep. We got the ones from before, and we've got various little other ones. Sparklers that spell swear words, rockets that leave long tails, and all sorts of other goodness that you'll enjoy. So. Let's get moving. We gotta get this done before the next lessons start."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked innocently.

"Entrance Hall. We're going to set them off on each floor. You two need to wait on the third floor and set off some outside her office. Meet us in the hidden corridor on the first floor when you're done."

"Got it. Come on, Emily," Seth ordered.

"Tell me what to do again and I'll flog you," said Emily, lifting her own crate.

They moved the crates to the third floor, hiding them behind a tapestry adjacent to Umbridge's door. They returned to the bottom floor, where students were heading to and away from their lunches. Among those going in were Matt and the other Ravenclaws, but they didn't stop to chat. Fred and George were waiting.

"All set?" asked the twins as Emily and Seth arrived in the small chamber outside the Entrance Hall.

"Wait for our lot to go off. Then set yours off. Get your asses out of there when you do, though, otherwise Umbridge will have you and we can't have that," warned George.

"Right. Give us 5 minutes," Seth said as the two younger Gryffindors ran to the third floor again.

"Shh… here comes Filch," muttered Seth, looking around the corner.

The caretaker was just leaving Umbridge's office, a smug look on his face. Emily sighed, wondering what Umbridge had done to get Filch on her side and knowing that it was terrible news for all the students.

"I hope we don't get caught," Seth muttered, "I'd hate to not see how this all turns out."

"Stop worrying, and get ready," Emily said, moving up.

They reached the boxes and waited. The corridor was silent, no students about. Umbridge was obviously either not in her office or was occupied and not making any noise. They waited a bit longer, occasionally exchanging glances. 5 minutes had gone already…

"Oy! And just what do you think you're doing?" snarled Jo during break as she, Caitlin, and Cait approached 3 Hufflepuff 3rd years.

"Nothing," one said, quickly trying to stuff a Fanged Frisbee behind his back.

"Nothing my ass. What's behind your back, kid?" Cait said, here eyes narrowed.

"N… nothing," the boy said, moving towards one of his friends.

"I don't believe it. _Accio!_" Caitlin said, whipping out her wand as she spoke. The Frisbee flew form his back and soared into Caitlin's outstretched hand. She sneered at them while all three boys looked to the floor.

"I suppose we'll have to take points from Hufflepuff for this," Jo said, smiling wickedly.

"Y… you can't do that!" one defiant boy stammered, "O… only teachers c-can do that. Even pr-prefects can't!"

"We're not prefects, moron," Jo said, taking a step towards him, "We're members of the Inquisitorial Squad…"

"What's that?" the third boy asked.

Caitlin sighed. They'd had to explain this to over 20 people so far, and she was sick of it. However, the nearly 80 points the three girls had managed to take since their first lesson had been worth it, and Slytherin was in the lead.

"It's none of your business," she said, before Jo or Cait could answer.

"Oh? And what if I want to make it my business?" the third boy challenged, braver than he felt.

Cait's eyes narrowed, "You should watch who you speak to. As your superiors, I suggest you take that back. It might go hard on you otherwise."

"I asked a question. I demand an answer," the boy replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"10 points from Hufflepuff," said Cait, "For being an obnoxious brat."

"And 10 from all of you," Jo added, "For playing with a clearly-defined illegal item in the corridors."

"And 20 from you," Caitlin said, pointing to the boy who held the Frisbee, "For trying to hide the evidence. Now, clear off, the lot of you."

The three boys ran off before any more points could be taken. The three girls smirked at each other and tossed the Frisbee back and forth. They'd done so much damage to the other houses this day alone that there was no way they could win the house cup now! That thought gave them complete ecstasy, even when they ran into Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. The first snagged the Frisbee and whipped it to Cait, who caught it.

"Hey. Had a good haul today?" asked Caitlin, clinging to Malfoy for a moment.

"Yeah, I got Potter, Weasley, and Granger just a minute ago. You?" he asked, giving her his look of simpering-soppiness.

"About 50 from Hufflepuff, a nice chunk from Ravenclaw… haven't seen any Gryffindors, however," replied Cait lazily, throwing the Frisbee to Jo as hard as she could.

"Woah!" Jo ducked and the Frisbee soared through a window, shattering the glass, and out into the grounds.

"Reparo!" Caitlin said, fixing the window, "Be careful, God!"

"I'm hungry," Jo said, walking ahead, "I'm going to get lunch…"

"Good idea. Crabbe and Goyle must be dying to eat, right boys?" Cait said, laughing at the two who looked like Christmas had come 3 months early again.

"You two live to eat, don't you?" Malfoy said as they walked to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was packed with students eating their lunches. At the Ravenclaw table, Matt, Lisa, Rachel, and Luna were devouring their mashed potatoes and steak as though they hadn't eaten in days. Caitlin and Malfoy were sharing a biscuit with butter while the rest of their friends ate ravenously. The only teachers in the Great Hall at this time were Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sinistra, and Vector, and they all looked worried as they scanned the student's heads for trouble between mouthfuls of soup.

As many finished and started to get up, there was a deafening explosion from the Entrance Hall. The entire Great Hall shook so bad half the plates fell to the ground, students who had been previously standing found themselves in the laps of their classmates, and the banners on the walls fell and landed on many of the students. Complete pandemonium broke out amongst the students and staff as everyone tried to get out of the hall. After the first few dozen, the rest screamed and turned to run back inside.

The explosion had obviously been caused by 3 giant crates of fireworks being set off. But these weren't the normal fireworks Dr. Fillibuster made. As the students panicked some more, a great, Green dragon of sparkles soared into the Great Hall, flying around and breath flame on everything it could. If the students had been panicked at the original explosion, they became hysterical at the sight of a dragon. There was a desperate attempt to get out and several people were trampled as they fled.

It wasn't much better in the Entrance Hall and other floors. Along with a quite a few more dragons, great, Pink and Purple Catherine Wheels soared like deadly Frisbees, bashing off walls, statues, and portraits and making their _wheeeeeeeee_ sound as they went. Sparklers of all colors were spelling out inappropriate words in mid-air, the flying off and doing it in another place. And glittering rockets were targeting certain students as they fled, leaving silver stairs in their wake.

Matt, Luna, Lisa, and Rachel nearly ran into Jack, Melody, and Mandy as they ducked. They didn't stop to chat, however, because a rocket had decided to target them and it was soaring after Mandy. She shrieked as it seemed to get closer, and was almost in tears when 3 more decided to chase the group.

"This way!" roared Jack, shoving through a group of frightened Gryffindor First Years toward a tapestry someone had just gone through.

They opened the door behind it and dove in, slamming it just as the rockets slammed into it.

"That… was… terrifying," Melody breathed.

Matt, Lisa, and Rachel didn't seem to think so. All three were laughing hysterically, doubled over and trying to catch their breath. Luna was smiling at the door, as though she expected one of the fireworks to burst in at any moment. Mandy was leaning against the wall, breathing hard, while Jack was grinning down the small corridor they were in.

"Shoulda known," he smirked.

"Like them, did you?" asked a voice.

"Fred and George Weasley. Who else could be so brilliant?" Jack said, walking forward to shake their hands.

"Harry?" Luna asked, looking around, "How did you get here?"

"Heh… long story. I think Dr. Fillibuster has his work cut out for him," Harry said, smiling.

"Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next… they multiply by ten every time you try," George said wistfully.

"Umbridge? She's trying to get rid of them?" Matt said.

"She must be stopped," Rachel said.

"Let's go tell her," Lisa said, smirking.

Back into the pandemonium the three dove. Luna had decided to stay behind with Fred, George, Harry, Mandy, Melody, and Jack. Fighting through the thinning crowd of students, they found a most amusing sight on the staircase. Professor Umbridge was running in circles as a rocket stalked her, while Filch was waving a broom at a Catherine Wheel. The broom, however, was on fire.

"Professor!" shouted Lisa, "Try Vanishing them!" 

"Of course!" Umbridge shouted, absent-mindedly, "I knew that!"

"Uh oh…" Matt said, smirking.

Professor Umbridge pointed her wand at the nearest dragon and shouted the Vanishing Spell. It hit and the Dragon collapsed into a circle of fire. However… the fire exploded and flew outward, burning out before it reached anyone. But the shockwave was so great that it sent everyone in the hall flying back a few feet or into the nearest wall. The blast from it deafened everyone for a few moments, and many were dazed. The Ravenclaws laughed and ran up the stairs, ducking as Filch waved his flaming broom at them.

3 floors up, Emily and Seth heard the initial blast. They smirked and looked at each other, knowing it was time. They opened their crates and ran. Their own exploded right outside Umbridge's office and took off down the corridors. They were rocketing everywhere, and pandemonium broke out in the portraits as people fled. As they watched, Emily and Seth noticed Umbridge flee from her office, wand in hand, to see what had gone wrong. Harry soon left, and they ran to catch up.

"Hey! Harry!" Emily called.

"Wow… this is awesome," Seth commented.

"You guys did this?" Harry grinned.

"No, Fred and George gave us the goods, we just set them off ourselves…" Emily replied, as the tore into the Entrance Hall.

Seeing the fireworks rocketing around, the students breaking out in complete pandemonium, and the fact that Umbridge was almost entirely helpless brought a mad cackle to Emily's throat as she watched. The Headmistress could do nothing but stare… and stun.

"Stupefy!" she shouted, pointing her wand at a rocket. Instead of it stopping, it blew up with such a force that the floor shook. About 3 pictures in the immediate area of the blast were torn to shreds and tossed off the walls, their inhabitants screaming. Umbridge became more furious and shouted to Filch, "DON'T STUN THEM, FILCH!"

"Right you are, Headmistress!" Filch replied, who was waving a broom at the fireworks that kept aiming for him and Professor Umbridge.

"Wasn't it _her_ idea to do that?" Seth asked, amused.

"Let's split up, so we don't get caught," Emily said.

"Right," Harry said, going down through a tapestry while Seth and Emily ran up the other stairs. As they were reaching the door, however, there was such a loud explosion that the shockwave knocked both to the floor. She'd obviously done something else to the fireworks that had made it even stronger than Stunning! Hysterical with glee by now, Emily led Seth up the stairs and into the nearest doorway she could find. Both collapsed with laughter as the floor shook slightly below them.

They left less than 2 minutes later and almost collided with Professor Flitwick. He smiled up at them and told them to continue to their lessons while the fireworks were sorted out.

"We have to go to lessons? Is he serious?" Emily said, looking half annoyed and half scared.

"I suppose so," Seth replied, glumly, "We don't want to get busted so let's be good little wizard kids and go to class."

"Get out of here! Leave us alone!" shouted Pansy.

Caitlin and Cait had gotten separated from everyone else in the utter chaos. A Slytherin banner had covered nearly the entire table, sparing only those near the end. Now, however, around 2 dozen rockets had burst into the Great Hall and were trying to slam into various students. One had chosen Pansy, who was dashing through the hall as quickly as she could, knocking other students out of the way as she ran.

"Look, Pansy is in trouble," Cait said, watching with a smirk.

"I suppose we should help her. Let's see…" Caitlin looked through her mind for a spell that could help. None came to mind, and when the entire Great Hall shook twice from exceptional blasts from the fireworks, Caitlin decided attacking the rockets directly wasn't the best idea. Thinking quickly… though taking enough time so Pansy made 3 laps around the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables… she levitated the Slytherin banner in front of the rockets. They collided with it, bursting, and setting it aflame. Pansy flew out of the hall, knocking aside more people, and was promptly chased by more rockets.

"Moron. You couldn't just stand still, could you?" Caitlin muttered after her.

"Well done, Miss Murphy. 10 points to Slytherin," Professor Sinistra said breathlessly, for one had been chasing her, too.

"You're most welcome. Is there anything the Inquisitorial Squad can do to help?" Cait asked.

"Well… get the word around. Lessons will continue," Sinistra replied, walking shakily and cautiously off.

"No… you're serious…" Cait groaned as the Professor walked away, "The school goes into turmoil and we're sent to lessons."

"Whatever. Let's just make sure EVERYONE knows," Caitlin said, winking widely and obviously.

"I wonder where Malfoy disappeared to," added Cait as she and Caitlin began going around and talking to students. Some were happy, to their shock, apparently because at least some order still remained. Many, however, were appalled and disbelieving.

"No way. I'm not going to class with these things roaming around!" squealed a Gryffindor First Year from under the Gryffindor Table.

"10 points from Gryffindor, then, for ignoring orders from an Inquisitorial Squad member," Caitlin said, glaring at him.

With another squeal, the boy was out into the Entrance Hall in moments. The Great Hall was still completely messed up, with tables, benches, chairs, and such over-turned in all directions, banners down, and a lot of dust falling from the walls from the continued blasts. With a sigh, Caitlin went off to help herd the students back to their classes.

"Well, this is a rather interesting turn of events. But you've all handled yourselves wonderfully, so I will not be assigning any homework today," Professor McGonagall said to the 5th years about an hour later. The lesson had been delayed while people were retrieved from various hiding spots. The fireworks were still going this way and that, flying by windows and doors, some still chasing students.

"Thank you, God," Emily sighed, sitting back in her chair. She already owed an essay in this class and another one would only make her go insane.

"However, we must continue on with our work, so…" Professor McGonagall began, but stopped when the door burst open.

With a roar and a ton of flames, a dragon soared in. A few students in the back screamed and moved out of their seats, but the Dragon just soared above their heads, circling the class like a hawk that has spotted its dinner.

"Dear, dear," said Professor McGonagall, shutting her cabinet drawer, and standing, a sardonic smile on her face, "Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Lavender, rushing from the classroom as the dragon eyed her carefully.

"The rest of you are excused. I shall call you back as soon as this is all cleared out," added Professor McGonagall, entering a side-chamber to her office and barricading the door.

The call never came, obviously, and the rest of the ½ hour was free. Matt, Lisa, Rachel, and Luna hid in their favorite room and played DDR with that machine-from-a-scrap-of-paper, Seth and Emily read, and Caitlin and Draco sat on a balcony and watched the fireworks pelt after various students on the grounds again. They spotted Pansy near Hagrid's Hut, running full-tilt towards the lake.

"Poor Pansy. I almost feel sorry for her," Malfoy said sadistically as the firework turned away from the lake while Pansy dove in.

"I don't. I saved her once, she's on her own now," Caitlin replied.

However, when the next class came around, they all trudged down to Potions. Perhaps the only two teachers in the school that wouldn't stop their lessons for rampaging fireworks were Binns and Snape, and, unfortunately, Snape was in a very bad mood. Not sure why, everyone kept silent and worked on their Potions while Snape sat at his desk, not even bothering to attack Harry, Neville, or Matt.

When they all reported for Herbology, there was a sign that said lessons were cancelled due to the upset of the Puffapods by the fireworks. With shouts of glee, the 5th years ran to their favorite hang-outs and did what they normally did. The fireworks, to their great amazement, were still going strong and soaring around, doing whatever they felt like doing: chasing students, chasing teachers, chasing Mrs. Norris, chasing portraits, setting fire to Mrs. Norris' tail, dueling with Sir Cadogan, and knocking Mrs. Norris into various drinking fountains. When the bell sounded that would normally end classes, the students carefully went to their towers to deposit their bags and books before returning for dinner.

When the rumors about Professor Umbridge started to circle through the student body, everyone was ecstatic. Apparently, she'd gone to nearly every room all over the school to take care of the fireworks. She'd tried Stunning, Vanishing, Reducing, Freezing, Inflaming, and, by accident, Multiplying. She was completely exhausted, and the Inquisitorial Squad knew they were going to face her wrath when she could next employ it.

That night, Emily was lucky enough to be in Gryffindor Tower. There was a huge celebration for the Weasley twins, who were the commanders of the whole event. Nearly everyone was congratulating the Weasleys, so Seth and Emily did the one thing no one else was doing: homework. When they could finally get to the twins without crushing too many people, they did so.

"That was the most fun I've had in weeks," Seth said, shaking hands with them.

"And, to top it off, Umbridge has spent her first day as Head of Hogwarts doing the dirty work for teachers who could have easily rid themselves of the fireworks themselves," Emily smirked, also shaking hands with them.

"As an added bonus, George and I have made 175 Galleons on the fireworks sets. There's a waiting list of about two and a half years, but… I'm sure we can bump you guys up a few places."

"When will the first batches be done?" asked Emily, picking out some money of her own.

"Early June, if we're lucky. We have to start completely over. Used up our whole load," George said.

"But it was more than worth it. I would do it again, too, if I didn't abhor repeat shows," Fred added.

"Can you believe they did that and not get caught?" Matt asked as he, Blaine, Jack, and Nate made their way to the Common Room that night, "I mean…"

"Yeah, you've said what you mean a few times," said Nate, "And as I've said a few times… they're masters. Been that way since they've been here, I'm sure."

"Still… I wish I could get some fireworks for my school," said Matt, wondering if he'd ever be forced to attend Athens again.

"Like you'll ever go back. You're doing exceptionally well for a guy who arrives just in time for O.W.L.'s, which I still can't believe you have to talk," Nate said.

"You've said that a few times yourself," Matt replied, opening the door.

"Yeah… but—" Nate suddenly broke off as they looked into their dormitory.

"Oh… my…" Matt muttered, looking towards the rafters.

A Catherine Wheel was in a dormant stage above their beds. As though it was snoring, it was rotating in one direction, stopping, and then the other… and kept that pattern up, giving it two _wheee_ sounds. The boys stood frozen, knowing the slightest move would cause the whole she-bang to go… She-BANG! As they were about to step back, there was a high-pitched sound.

"Oh no…" gasped Matt.

Sure enough, Cyclone emerged out of the darkness. The rest of the guys' eyes got as wide as coke bottle caps, and their bodies went rigid. Matt's heart was going about 8 times the normal speed as he watched the bird fly towards the firework.

"Cyclone, no," Matt whispered, terrified, "You'll wake it."

Confused, the bird stopped and hovered in mid-air. Then he saw the spinning wheel. What he thought it was, they never knew, but something about it attracted the bird. He suddenly flew towards it.

"No…" Matt moaned, moving forward to get him.

The bird flew head-first into it, dropping to Matt's bed. The Wheel was bounced back, seemed to shake itself, and began to spin at a faster rate, trying to find who had awakened it. The sparks were much bigger than they should've been, and Matt's insides turned to ice.

"Run," breathed Nate.

"Go…" Blaine moaned.

"Before it—" Jack began.

_**WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!**_

"RUN!" Matt roared, as the 4 took off. The wheel spun out of control, smashed against a wall, and chased them down the narrow passage. Running hell-for-leather, the 4 boys dove at the door… which swung open. All the Ravenclaws looked around, and freaked out when the Catherine Wheel came out, whining at a pitch that was loud enough to make many cover their ears. The Wheel soared around, bouncing off bookshelves and knocking the contents to the floor. It finally smashed through one of the large windows and soared away, it's sounding dying as it did so. There was total silence. Then a giggle. Then a few more. Before long, the entire Common room was cracking up as they restored the windows and books to their initial forms.

"What will Umbridge say to us this evening, I wonder," Caitlin said that night as the Inquisitorial Squad made their way towards Professor Umbridge's office. Every night, they were required to give status reports to the horrible High Inquisitor and receive their next day's assignments. If one was not up to par, they could be replaced, much like the teachers.

"The way things went today? She'll probably replace half of us," Jo muttered.

"I wouldn't be sorry if she did," Caitlin said bitterly. She hated being the Toad's henchwoman.

"Don't worry, she won't get rid of you. You're one of the few who actually had information," Cait said, catching up to them in her usual saunter.

"Information? I blamed it on Potter and Weasley. That's not exactly information," Caitlin smirked, wondering whether the High Inquisitor would care. Probably not.

"Yes, that was quite an interesting gleam in her eye after you said that," Jo said, also laughing, "I bet they're all expelled by tomorrow."

"One would hope," said Malfoy, joining the group almost out of nowhere. Crabbe and Goyle were flanking him, as usual.

"Hope being the key word," Jo sighed, "There's just too much damn paper work when trying to expel someone."

"We'll find out," said Cait, pushing the door open and walking into the slightly more-cramped office. Around 30 other Slytherins stood and sat around the points of Umbridge's office with looks ranging from distaste, smugness, and utter revulsion at all the pink.

"Where's the Maid of Honor?" asked one.

"The what?" Crabbe asked, blinking stupidly.

"Professor Umbridge," Caitlin said.

"She'll be along directly. She had to cleanse herself of all the soot on her face," Josephine said from the couch. She was being squashed in the middle of 4 large 6th years, who seemed to completely ignore her.

_Hem hem…_ came a muffled cough.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hello Madam Maid of Honor," Crabbe and Goyle said stupidly, bowing as low as their large bodies would let them.

Everyone stared, some trying not to laugh. Professor Umbridge also stared, her expression a strange medium between amusement, confusion, and furiousness. She had finally gotten all the soot off her face, but she still looked a little red from where the fireworks had exploded near her.

"Yes… well…" she eyed Crabbe and Goyle warily and, with difficulty, made her way through the Slytherins toward her desk, "My dears, I must tell you, today was a rather… _trying_ day."

"You can say that again. I still have a migraine from those stupid fireworks," whined a female 4th year, massaging her forehead for emphasis.

"Yes, well, I've received information on who the culprits might be. When I get any solid evidence, I will be expelling them as quickly as possible. Until then, however, I wanted to make sure you have 100 understanding of your duties on the glorious Inquisitorial Squad.

"First off, you know your duties in terms of patrolling. I leave it to you all to work out schedules for this sort of job. We have to make sure that all the nasty little liars, cheaters, and trouble-makers in this school are put to a stop. This, of course, is for your benefit," she added quickly, and then another _hem hem…_ and she launched into another mini-speech.

"Among this, you must also report every morning and evening for Owl Post readings. I don't want any outside information leaking in and poisoning the minds of students. You will be required to censor and remove anything offensive and rude from all posts entering and leaving the castle. If you have questions, please ask me about certain things."

"Now, you will also be getting identification badges, as you have here, on your papers when you go to apply for a job. When they see this your chance of getting the job you're applying for in question will increase five-fold against those without one. The Ministry especially wants you all to apply for jobs within it.

Also, you are exempted from all Defense Against the Dark Arts homework while you do your other various duties. Tests will be graded on a curb, and any long-term projects will be reduced for you. Any questions?"

"Does that apply to other classes?" asked one hopefully.

Frowning, Professor Umbridge thought for a moment, "Well… not yet. I'm negotiating with Professors Snape, Binns, and Sinistra, but the rest of the teachers seem… stuck on their current plans."

"What else are we going to have to do every day?" asked Goyle.

"Well, like I said, you will have your nightly meeting with me. Today, as you all know, was a bit strenuous for everyone. Those fireworks were terrible, and I want to know who was responsible. If anyone has any information what-so-ever, I will award them handsomely."

"It was Potter," said Malfoy at once.

"And do you have proof, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Umbridge.

"Really, Professor, do you know anyone else who would cause you so much trouble on the first day? I say it was not only Potter, but those Weasley twins and that Hermione Granger. Only she could have the brains to pull something like this off without getting caught," Caitlin added, quickly.

"I bet she bribed the teachers into letting her get away with it," said Pansy, "That's the only reason she gets such good grades, by giving the teachers food, money, and stuff."

Muttering grew as the Slytherins seemed to agree. Professor Umbridge looked thoughtful for a few moments, then a grin snaked its way onto her face.

"Those are very good points. Yes, I'm surprised that you could all have figured this out, too. Of course, _I_ knew Potter his horrible friends were behind this, but to have you all confirm it does wonders. I'll get him if it's the last thing I do," she said, writing something down on the blinding pink parchment.

"You may all go," she added as an afterthought.

When everyone had made it to the Common Room, the 5th Years knocked some 2nd Years off the couches and reclined on them, chatting about what had just happened.

"I didn't think it'd be that easy to get Potter expelled," laughed Malfoy.

"Really, seeing Umbridge believe us like that makes up completely for how foul she is," Caitlin chuckled.

"And I want to see the look on the Mudblood's face when she finds out she's getting expelled!" shrieked Pansy, collapsing into a fit of giggles.

"Yes, I do believe she'll have a heart attack and die before they even finish telling her to go pack," Josephine said.

"We better make the schedule now," Caitlin said, "So we can decide when to stick people where."

"We're not allowed to patrol past 10," said Millicent scowling heavily.

"I know… but, then again, 5th years are only allowed to be in the corridors until 9, so that's a plus for us," Jo said.

"Hey… why did Umbridge seem so surprised again tonight after you told her it was Potter and them?" Caitlin asked suddenly.

"Yeah… we told her before, and she seemed okay then, but she was really excited tonight," Malfoy said, frowning.

"Probably because you gave evidence this time," chuckled Jo, "Baseless and biased evidence, but evidence none-the-less."

"Yeah, now can we _please_ get this schedule done? I want to get to bed sometime tonight," Cait said.

When they had finished, it was decided that Cait and Caitlin would patrol from 9 to 10 on Mondays and Fridays, Caitlin and Jo would patrol from 8 to 9 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Malfoy and Caitlin would patrol from 8 to 10 on Sundays, Mondays, and Saturdays. Everyone was happy with their assignments, too, and since Malfoy was a prefect as well, he had a certain charisma over the others.

All the Inquisitorial girls went to bed around midnight. As they were walking to their dormitory, they talked about whom they were patrolling with, what they planned to do, and whose mail they were _dying_ to read. When Caitlin was about to close the door to her dorm, she heard someone mutter, "Has anyone seen Montague?"

Everyone knew it was going to be worse with the Inquisitorial Squad. And, if it had been hard for the Americans before, the next week or so was nearly impossible. After three days of answering review questions incorrectly, their Heads of House had called them down to their offices to give them extensive review sheets and notes on the previous years they'd missed. As this was the second one, they weren't looking forward to the work they'd have to spend filling it out. However, they didn't have to fill this one out, only answer various questions at the end of each section. Soon, Matt was answering many Transfiguration questions correctly, Emily was firing off Potion ingredients, and Flitwick was overcome with emotion at how Caitlin knew the advanced effects of Color-Changing Charms on the skin.

Ironically, Caitlin probably had the worst time of it. She had all the patrolling, mail-reading, and various other chores to do with the I. S. that she barely had time to spend with Malfoy, and most of that time was spent doing homework. Even being exempted from Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't doing a lot in terms of time for her, and she went to bed exhausted, her head aching from memorizing all the facts on spells, potions and famous wizards and witches. However, she had to admit reading the mail was the best part of being an Inquisitorial Squad member. True, many messages were the boring, "I'm doing great Mom, can't wait to see you," kinds, but some were rather good to use against people.

"Dear Mother," read Caitlin aloud, having been sitting in the room for nearly an hours, "I am pleased to inform you that I have not wet the bed in 3 nights. The Potion Madam Pomfrey gave me has really helped. I love you all and I miss you so much."

"Whose was that?" asked Jo, snickering.

"Some Hufflepuff First Year. But this one's the best. It's from a Ravenclaw 6th Year…" Caitlin said, "Dear Big Sis… I am so confused. I love this one kid, but he's so hot and athletic and he'll never like me. And this one boy loves me and I kinda like him, but he's such a little geek. I don't know what I should do! Please help!"

"Oh, we're so going to get her for that. I love making people's lives miserable in terms of crushes," Josephine said maliciously.

Emily was also having a rough time getting between her homework and Quidditch Practices. In fact, that's all she had time for. In the span of 5 days, she hadn't read anything for pleasure, had actually done the homework she was assigned, and even gotten through Year 4 of the Potions Worksheet. Seth was very thankful for this because, for the life of him, he couldn't remember all 35 ingredients in the Potion of Sense-Sharpening. Quidditch was in another boat altogether.

"Emily! Haven't you spotted the Snitch yet?" Angelina shouted one day during practice.

Emily had been soaring around the Pitch for almost a half an hour. Her brain ached from all the memorizing and homework she'd done, and from the reprimand she'd gotten from Professor Sprout for not knowing the difference between a Self-Fertilizing Shrub and a Self-Pruning Hedge. Her vision was slightly blurred and she wasn't enjoying soaring through the cool air at all for once.

"Obviously not, or I'd have gone for it," Emily muttered angrily, diving 20 feet and straightening out.

"Hurry up. We've managed to score a grand total of 320 points and yet you still haven't found it," Angelina barked.

"And even if the other Seeker caught it now, we'd still win," said Emily quietly, not willing to let Angelina hear her mutinous mutterings.

"Please find it, we need you to be able to do good at our next game!" shouted Angelina.

"ALRIGHT, ANGELINA! I'M TRYING! WOULD YOU SHUT UP FOR A FEW MINUTES?!" Emily exploded, taking everyone by surprise. Ron stared, Katie nearly fell off her broom, Alicia's hands flew to her mouth, and the two Beaters slammed into each other while staring at Emily. Angelina looked like she'd been slapped in the face with a broomstick.

"Emily… get out of my sight," Angelina breathed.

Emily dove at her. Alicia screamed and Angelina turned, gasping, and doing the Sloth-Grip Roll to avoid being hit.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" shrieked Angelina, soaring to meet Emily.

"The Snitch. It was stuck to your broom," Emily said, glaring at her captain and waving the Snitch in her face.

Angelina didn't say anything for the rest of practice.

Matt, however, was also having a hard time. While he didn't need to waste his time patrolling or spend an hour a day on Quidditch, he wasn't nearly as strong mentally as the other two. Smarter, maybe, but in terms of being able to stand stress, he was much weaker. Within the first week, he was getting migraines everyday and having to take pills and potions to sooth his mind so he could sleep at night. He spent his time doing one of two things: homework and reading the review sheet. Unlike Emily and Caitlin, who glanced through it at best, he was reading each thing word-for-word. As a result, he was only ½ way through Year 2 by the end of the week, and his stress level was high. However, Lisa firmly told him that he was, under no circumstances, doing any work on Saturday and she would spend it with him and him only.

So, that's what they did. All Saturday morning, they went to the Room of Requirement, locked the door, and found a DDR machine set up for them already. There was an infinite number of Knuts on the counter of a bar-like area, giving them eternal Dance Dance Revolution fun. They did what Matt had wanted to do for a while: work out an actual dance to a song using the steps they had.

"So… we've got Dub-I-Dub, Dam Dariram, and Synchronized Love down. What else?" Matt asked.

"Let's see… Moonlight Shadow and Butterfly would be nice," Lisa replied, wiping sweat off her forehead.

"With pleasure," Matt said, selecting Butterfly and preparing to dance.

In fact, it wasn't only with the Americans that tensions were mounting up. People became increasingly irritable, and those who were more serious about school work became nearly homicidal about being interrupted. There were constant arguments over the tiniest things, anyone who was being out of order was shouted at by about 300 people, and no one became more feared in the Gryffindor Common Room than Hermione Granger. But it wasn't only Hermione who was involved in arguments that she normally would not have ever been in. In fact, a great shocker came in the Ravenclaw Common Room a few days before Easter Break.

The 5th Year Ravenclaws were sitting in a secluded corner. Almost all the years had grouped up, the exceptions being Rachel and Luna, who were sitting near the 5th Years and watching them with interest. They were playing a small, mini-quiz game with Chocolate Frog Cards and Bertie Botts Beans for the winners. There were three teams, and Blaine was asking the questions. Matt's group was in the lead with 34 points, Mandy's team was next with 30, and Jack's team only had 25.

"Which Transfiguration Spell is also known as the Spell to Change Black to White?" Blaine asked.

Everyone looked stumped, even Matt. He looked to his team mates, shaking his head.

"You blithering idiots! It's…" Blaine began.

"Oh no," muttered Padama suddenly.

"It's Cho," said Jack, darkly.

Ever since the incident with the D. A., Cho and all her friends had been shunned by not only the Ravenclaw 5th years, but also anyone involved in or having friends involved in the D. A. And if that wasn't bad enough, Cho wasn't even properly ashamed for being the one who forced Marietta the Sneak to the meetings, and was instead sticking up for her friend and going from person to person, saying that they shouldn't be mad at Marietta.

"Let's go," said Nate, standing up to move. None were fast enough.

"Uh… guys… can I talk to you for a moment?" Cho asked.

Everyone regarded her with a cold glare. However, they waited for her to speak, arms crossed and faces hard. Even Rachel and, to their surprise, Luna, looked angry.

"Look… about Marietta…" Cho began.

"Yeah, we know, we shouldn't blame her," said Jack, mimicking Cho's voice.

"I mean, it's not _her_ fault that we all almost got _expelled_ for the D. A.," said Lisa acidly, her beret slightly askew.

"No, please, it's really not. She…" Cho began, looking have angry and half tearful.

"She what? What possible reason could she have for turning us into the High Inquisitor? There is none," Rachel said, standing next to Matt.

"Oh, no, you forgot," Blaine said, "Her dear Mother works for the Minister. That must be it."

"Yes!" said Cho, "Her mother works in the Floo Network, and she's under a lot of pressure…"

"The Weasley's father works for the Ministry of Magic, and they're not giving us all up for expulsion," Matt said, "And Lisa's grandmother was even part of Fudge's council a few years ago. I believe Padama, Mandy, and Blaine have parents involved in the Ministry, but they're not rushing off to the toad's room."

"You're as bad as Harry," Cho said, looking extremely angry now.

"Excuse me?" said Lisa and Matt at the same time.

"He's so mean. He said the same exact thing to me, and it was wrong. You should all forgive Marietta because it's _not_ her fault that she turned us in," Cho shouted.

"Then whose fault is it?" Luna asked, sounding slightly annoyed for the first time.

"It's… it's…" Cho sputtered.

"It must be _yours_, Cho," Matt said, taking a small step forward, "She never wanted to come to the meetings, you forced her along. So, in my opinion, YOU are to blame. It's your fault you destroyed your relationship with Harry over this, and it's you who nearly caused us to be expelled."

"That's not true," Cho shouted, tears coming to her eyes, her face flushed with fury.

"Oh? Really? Please, dear Cho, if it's not your fault, not Marietta's fault, whose fault is it?" Blaine asked, looking superior.

"I mean what Matt said," Cho said, then, to Matt, "And my relationship with Harry is not part of this argument. You have no right to call Marietta those names…"

"Because she risked getting me expelled for trying to learn stuff you've had the opportunity to learn for years before me? For trying to get me kicked out for getting extra help? I, personally, believe that would allow me to call her anything I wish," Matt snorted.

"You're horrible. You're evil, foul, you're the most annoying person I've ever met…" Cho's built-up emotions seemed to be flying out in a long, offensive stream towards Matt, who stood slightly dazed while the insults washed over him, "… you do nothing but talk about that stupid game… Dance Dance Revelation or whatever it's called… and then you insult people and place unnecessary blame on them, and you're a hypocrite and I-"

_SMACK!_ Before anyone else could react, Lisa had shoved Rachel and Matt out of the way, run to Cho, and backhanded her across the face. Cho fell to the side, her lip slightly swollen and her eyes shocked.

"Don't you _ever_ insult him that way again," Lisa breathed, staring daggers at Cho.

"You… you bitch!" Cho shouted, advancing on Lisa, her arms raised.

_BASH!_ This time it was Lisa's fist that collided with Cho's face. It wasn't enough to do serious harm, and Lisa did rub her wrist slightly from pain, but Cho was so taken aback that she almost fell backwards. Lisa stood there, breathing heavily, while Cho stood, hand on her eye, looking shocked. The rest of the room was silent as a grave. Behind Lisa, Matt, the other 5th years, Rachel, and Luna looked stunned. Behind Cho, her group of friends looked mortified. And the rest of the room looked wide-eyed at the two girls. If Professor Sinistra had been in the room, she would've flipped. Thankfully, their Head of House was nowhere to be seen, so, after a minute, Cho turned and stumbled back to her friends, and Lisa turned and stomped to the dormitories.

In a similar manner, Emily lost her temper to her dorm mates the Thursday before Easter Holidays. Seth was serving yet another detention (for insulting Marietta within earshot of Sinistra), and she was alone. The Common Room was far too loud, so she tried to go to her dorm. Well, that was the first step on the road to ruin. When she entered, about 18 different scents seemed to fill her lungs, causing her to gag and have slight troubles breathing. Not only that, there were more beds in their room than usual. The room itself was bigger, but the three extra beds took up most of it.

The reason for these different, unpleasant surprises was almost immediately obvious. To her horror, Emily saw 3 more girls that she would, without remorse, call preps standing by a large mirror with Parvati and Lavender. She had seen the girls in the Common Room and knew their names, but she had always assumed they were 6th years or something of the like. They all seemed to be trying on different types of perfumes and mixing scents to fit their needs. It resulted in a large cloud of perfume that almost suffocated anyone who breathed it in.

Bridget O'Reily, Brittany Baker, and Gertrude Shaw were, as stated, three of the snobbiest, self-serving, and higher-than-thou people on the face of the planet. Bridget thought she was all that because she had a 100 Irish background (though she lacked the accent and her hair was blonde), Brittany had come from a family that never disciplined their children, and Gertrude was a spoiled little rich girl from Liverpool. Her family sold products magical and non-magical, and that ended up making them enough money to let them live very comfortably indeed. Emily hated them, hated their perfumes, their giggling, their everything. With another gag, she crossed to her bed to try and find that new book Red Wing had deliverered to her earlier. It had made her angry at first because the cover had a stamp across it with Umbridge's Seal of Approval, but she figured it was something she could easily remove… if she could only find it.

"So, as I was saying to Brittany, can you, like, believe Dumbledore let them do that? If High Inquisitor Umbridge found out about their little game, I'm sure they'd be expelled like that," Bridget said, snapping the top back onto the perfume bottle for emphasis.

"Yeah, that one weird kid, Matt, would probably burst into tears if his precious game was destroyed," sang Gertrude, using a little laugh that reminded Emily so much of Umbridge that she shivered. The book was still nowhere to be seen and she was getting annoyed, wondering if the girls had taken it.

"What about those two other girls, Lisa and Luna?" said Brittany, applying way too much lipstick onto her already ruby-red lips.

"I've never much liked Lisa," Bridget was saying, "That beret she wears is, like, _so_ tacky… it makes me sick to see her wear it."

"Yeah, and Loony Luna Lovegood is, quite possibly, the most horrifying person I've ever met. I mean, she worships that stupid _Quibbler_ magazine like a bible and is always saying she can see things other people can't," Gertrude said.

Emily frowned and stood up. She had only been half-listening to the conversation, and she had found her book. To her infuriation, it was jammed under one of the legs of the new beds, propping it so it stayed level. One of the legs must've been cut too short and someone felt the need to use Emily's new book to stabilize it.

"Like, excuse me," Emily said in a high pitched voice that mocked the other girls, "Can you, like, explain to me why one of you feels the need to use my book as a support, hm?"

"Who are you?" asked Bridget, turning and glaring at Emily.

"She's Emily Davis," said Parvati haughtily, "She's not a person you'd like."

"Really. She hangs out with Matt Warren and Seth McGuire, and has this really strange bird thing as her pet," Lavender added quickly.

"His name," said Emily quite calmly, "Is Red Wing. And I'll appreciate it if you would stop talking behind my friend's backs, especially when they're not here to defend themselves."

"Really. Like you don't talk about us behind our backs," Gertrude sniffed.

"Hey, if I've got a problem with you, believe me, I'll let you know," said Emily, heading towards the bed.

"Why are you going near my bed?" Bridget asked, taking a step forward.

Emily stopped and glared at her, "To get my book."

"I don't think so," Bridget took a few more hurried steps to her bed, "That book props up my bed. It keeps tilting and clanking otherwise."

"Then find something else. I need that book," Emily said through gritted teeth.

"Like, no way. It was on my side of the room anyway," said Bridget, standing by the leg of the bed.

"Like, only because Crookshanks, like, decided to play with it," Emily said, also arriving at the foot of the bed.

"I'm using it!" Bridget snarled, seizing the book.

"The hell you are. It's my book, I haven't even read it yet," spat Emily, also getting a hold on the book.

Neither girl let go. Bridget tugged and yanked, and Emily just held on, saving her strength for when Bridget got low. Then, Bridget slapped Emily's wrists. Emily hit her squarely in the arm, and she shouted and held it, her face contorted with pain.

"Dead arm," Emily said, standing up and holding the book in her hands. She sighed impatiently when she saw the cover. It had almost collapsed from the tremendous force on it, and had also been wrinkled up from the small tugging war.

Bridget was sitting against the bed, tears falling from her eyes, massaging her arm. Her friends were instantly around her, forming a protective circle, and stealing looks of hatred at Emily when they could. Emily gave them a cold, indifferent stare, and strode from the room, slamming the door. Bridget's bed suddenly tilted slightly as the weight fell on the broken leg.

Caitlin sat against a wall. Malfoy had just showed her another curse, one that summons a swarm of bees to attack and sting the target. However, it was a very draining spell, and she wasn't up to doing it more than four times before retiring.

"Let's go, hon," Malfoy said, his arm around her shoulders, "We need to get you back to your dorm so you can go night-night."

"Yeah, very funny," Caitlin snorted. She wasn't tired, she was just… exhausted. But in a different way. A cool drink would help, right after she dipped into the bathroom for a minute.

"Be right back," she said, opening the door on the 4th floor. She went in and immediately noticed a gurgling sound.

"That's weird…" she muttered, "Moaning Myrtle's a few floors down…"

She headed for one of the stalls. With no one else in the room, she really hoped it wasn't a bomb in the toilet. She might have a hard time explaining herself if any teachers came by and saw her emerging right after an explosion.

"What the…" she muttered, pushing a door open to one of the stalls. She screamed blue murder when she did.

There was a head and part of a torso sticking out of the toilet's top. The rest of the body had to be jammed somewhere inside of the u-bend and piping. But the face… there was no mistaking that horrible of a face. It was Montague, and Caitlin suddenly remembered people asking about him since he hadn't been seen in a few days. But when she realized she was still screaming, she closed her mouth and took a step back. Montague looked dazed, and he was babbling something that she couldn't hear. He smelled dreadful.

"DRACO!" shouted Caitlin, running for the door.

"What? Are you alright," Draco asked, opening the door.

"It's Montague!" yelled Caitlin, "He's in the toilet!"

"What?" Malfoy said, rushing to get a look himself. His face was torn between amusement and repulsion.

"How did he get there?" Caitlin gasped.

"I don't know. We should probably tell someone. I'll go to Professor Snape, you go to Professor Umbridge," Malfoy said.

"Do I have to do it myself?" Caitlin moaned.

"No, I guess I can go with you," Malfoy said, "It might take us a bit longer to rescue Montague, but whatever."

They rushed… well… ran… actually, it was more or less a saunter to Professor Umbridge's room. They spent most of that time talking about the look they knew Umbridge would have when they told her about the incident. Then they wondered what she would have time do and whether they would have to help get Montague out. They slowed their pace after that thought, but arrived about 5 minutes later than they planned.

"Professor?" Malfoy said, opening the door.

Professor Umbridge stood up immediately from the fire. She had been conversing with someone again. The two Slytherins stood before her, wondering who it had been. Probably the Minister or another Ministry official.

"Yes, my dears?" asked Professor Umbridge, smiling widely.

"It's Montague," said Caitlin quickly, "He's somehow got himself jammed in a toilet on the fourth floor."

"He what?" gasped Umbridge, leaping up from her chair.

"It sounds strange, but it's true," Caitlin replied, shrugging, "He was babbling and I couldn't get a straight answer out of him."

"Where is he?" Umbridge asked, rushing forward.

"4th floor, girl's bathroom!" Caitlin called after her.

"Run and fetch Professor Snape!" shouted Umbridge from down the corridor as she waddled out of sight.

"Come on, Murphy, we better go find our dear Head of House and inform him of the sad news," Malfoy said dryly.

"Yes, let's," Caitlin replied.

They walked down the few floors they needed to the Dungeons. It wasn't as cold as usual, something Caitlin found strange. But she didn't ponder it for long because, within seconds, they were in front of Snape's office door. Voices were coming from inside. Malfoy threw the door open.

"Professor Snape, sir – oh – sorry –," Malfoy said, looking at the two people before them.

Caitlin was as shocked as he was. Not only was Snape there, but so was Harry Potter. As if that wasn't strange enough, they had their wands out and pointing at each other.

"It's alright Draco, Caitlin," said Snape, lowering his wand, "Potter is here for a little Remedial Potions."

"I didn't know," said Malfoy, smirking. Caitlin also grinned when she saw Harry's face turn red.

"Well… what is it, you two?" Snape said.

"It's Professor Umbridge, sir – she needs your help," Malfoy began.

"We found Montague. He's just turned up, jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor…" Caitlin said, shivering slightly at the image.

"How did he get in there?" demanded Snape.

"I don't know, sir," Malfoy said, "He's a bit confused."

"Very well, very well – Potter," Snape said, turning to face Harry, "we shall resume this lesson tomorrow evening instead."

Snape and Malfoy swept from the office. Caitlin stayed behind momentarily.

"Remedial Potions, huh?" Caitlin said, leaning against the door, "Likely story."

"Shove off, Murphy," Harry said, still flushing.

"Heh. Watch your back, Potter," Caitlin said, leaving the office and hurrying after Malfoy and Snape. She caught them in the Entrance Hall.

"You're sure you have no idea how he got there?" Snape asked them as they reached the fourth floor.

"No clue whatsoever. I found him just a few minutes ago, he was… jammed inside, and I'm not sure where the rest of his body is," Caitlin said.

"Is he… alive?" Snape asked, quickening his pace slightly.

"Very much so, sir," Caitlin replied, striding to keep up.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Malfoy said, "He better be, at least. We have to beat Gryffindor at Quidditch this year."

"This is not the time for that silly little fight you've with Potter, Draco," Snape said, pushing the door open.

Inside, Umbridge and Filch were standing near the same toilet Montague had been jammed in. He was still there, and he was singing a song about Fizzing Whizbees and Billywigs, still looking cross-eyed.

"How did he get in here?" demanded Snape to Umbridge and Filch.

"No idea, sir," Filch said, "Can you help us get him out."

"Alright. Just a moment," Snape took out his wand, muttered some sort of weird spell, and, slowly, Montague began to become pulled free of the toilet. First the majority of his torso, legs, and, finally, his feet. He was soaked and he smelled horrible, but he was out. Lying on the ground, he continued to babble about nothing, and mentioned a Vanishing something… but other than that, he was completely unable to speak a known human language.

"Let's… get him to the Hospital Wing," said Umbridge, wrinkling her nose up.

"Right you are, Headmistress," Filch said, picking up the terribly-smelling Montague and carrying him out.

"I award Slytherin 25 points for finding Montague," said Professor Umbridge, as she and Snape followed Filch and Montague towards the Hospital Wing.

"Well. That was mildly entertaining," said Caitlin, "And it's time for our patrol to end. I'm glad we switched with Millicent and Pansy for tonight…"

"Yes, that was the most fun I've had all week," Malfoy said as he held the door open for them to leave.

The Easter Holidays began, and, instantly, the panic began. Poor Hannah Abbott had to be taken to the Hospital Wing again for a panic attack, and was now on daily potions to help control it. Most of the 5th and 7th years were suffering from stress of a minor degree, and even Emily and Caitlin were starting to get nervous at the thought of the O.W.L.s that were approaching.

Emily was spending as few minutes as possible in her dorm. With the addition of Bridget, Brittany, and Gertrude to her room, she was at wits end when she was forced to stay in the room that seemed so much smaller so suddenly. The reason for it, she found out, was because they decided to add a bathroom to Gryffindor Tower so no one would have to walk the corridors at night. It cut down on travel time, increased sleep/homework/study time, and was widely accepted by all, even if all the dorms had to double-up.

Matt was studying almost as much as Emily tried to avoid her dorm. When he wasn't sleeping, in class, or playing DDR, he was studying. By the middle of the Easter Holidays, he was through almost all of the packet the teachers had given him, but was still struggling with his current work. If it wasn't for his friends, he'd be in the Insanity Ward with Hannah.

Caitlin knew her friends were worried, too. They hadn't gone out after hours for over 2 weeks, and even when they did, their "dungeon raids" were even less fun than usual because of the continued worries of O.W.L.s. So, like many others, they were forced inside most of their holiday to do work in the Library and Common Room.

As if the workload wasn't enough, Matt, Emily, and Caitlin were given yet another thing to think about towards the end. New signs had come up all over the Common Room boards and classrooms. They read:

**CAREER ADVICE**

**All Fifth Years will be required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the Summer term, in which they will be given the opportunity to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.**

Matt had not really considered anything, Caitlin hadn't decided herself, and Emily only had a vague idea on what she wanted to do. Their friends seemed pretty sure what they were going to do, however, something that worried the Americans a bit more. Were they expected to have ideas when they arrived?

"If McGonagall gives me hell for not having a job idea," Emily said, "I'll give her hell right back. How am I supposed to know what I want to do with less than a year of schooling?"

"Yeah, but I know where I'm going. Auror," Seth said, defiantly, "I've my own reasons for hunting dark wizards, some that I've never said before."

"Yeah, you haven't mentioned much to me about your past and stuff," Emily said, "But I won't pressure it. Besides, I think I'd like to do something with Magical Creatures… just… not shopping or teaching."

"Like Charlie Weasley… the dragon tamer?" asked Seth.

"Perhaps… I'm not positive yet. Either that, or perhaps some sort of shelter for animals, I don't know," Emily said, "No need to worry yet. I've got a few days to decide."

"Yeah, I wanna read that new book you got me," Seth added.

"Yes, and now I've got you in the clutches of Manga. You cannot escape now!" Emily cackled.

"Any idea what you want to do, Jo?" Caitlin asked the Saturday before Summer Term began.

"Something with the Ministry I guess," Jo sighed, "My entire family is involved with the Ministry. Father is in the Minister's Office as some assistant or another… Mom works in the Apparation Office in the Magical Transportation thing… she tests people, basically. Even my older brother, Jesse, went in for Auror training. He's still there, too, as a matter of fact."

"Any chances of working for You-Know-Who?" Caitlin asked in a low voice.

"Not right away. My family was with him on the whole pure-blood thing to some degree, especially Dad and Jesse, but Mom never let either join. I doubt she can stop them this time, especially if what Malfoy says is true."

"What about you, Cait?" asked Caitlin.

"Hell if I know. Probably some easy job in the Ministry, working for You-Know-Who, getting information, or something like that. What about you, Murphy?" Cait asked.

"No idea. I'll look at my options tomorrow with those stupid pamphlets we're supposed to get," Caitlin said, returning to the review packet to check out Charms in their 4th year.

"Lisa, what do you think you're going to do? What would I be good at?" Matt asked, frantically searching for an idea through the many pamphlets on the Ravenclaw desks.

"Matt… calm down or you'll give yourself an aneurism. I plan to open a store in Diagon Alley, a small, family business," Lisa said, looking through a pamphlet on how one went about opening up their own magical business.

"What will you do there?" Matt asked.

"I'm not quite sure. Besides, I'll need a few other jobs to get the money I need to actually open it, with all the costs on the Ministry and such," Lisa said airily.

"I want… a job where I can… well, I want a job where I can be creative, help people, do something I enjoy, and get paid moderately well," Matt said.

"That rules out almost everything. You can't have it all, you know," Lisa said.

"There's got to be a job out there… somewhere…" Matt said, diving back into the pamphlets.

The week finally started and lessons instantly got harder. Matt was told off by Professor Sprout for not finishing all his work, resulting in him nearly losing it in the middle of the greenhouse. Emily stared indifferently at Professor Umbridge when she insulted one of her written assignments, which resulted in a scathing reply and a loss of 20 points from Gryffindor. Caitlin was given tutoring with Professor Binns because her grade average in there had fallen to a P. She completely ignored this, and Binns seemed to have forgotten because he never mentioned it again.

Matt was to meet with Professor Sinistra on Thursday, at 1:15, which would result in him missing Defense Against the Dark Arts. Caitlin's appointment was during Tuesday's Care of Magical Creature's Class at 2:30, and Emily was to get out of Monday Morning Potions to meet with Professor McGonagall, at 10:45.

Emily suffered for 45 minutes on Monday before putting her stuff away. She marched up to Professor Snape's desk, holding out a pass for her to leave. Professor Snape regarded it closely and coldly, before grudgingly allowing her to leave. He had seemed in a foul mood, especially to Harry, recently, and she didn't feel like losing Gryffindor a few hundred points by being a cynical bitch. So, with a quickened pace, she went to Professor McGonagall's office.

Her Head of House was sitting behind her desk and looked up sharply when Emily entered. She had been sorting some papers behind a large stack of folders, and she seemed rather annoyed at something.

"Good morning, Miss Davis," said Professor McGonagall curtly, indicating a chair.

"Professor," said Emily, nodding and taking a seat.

"Welcome to Career Advice. I'm sure you know that this is where we're supposed to discuss your future career plans –"

The door banged open suddenly. Emily didn't even need to turn around to know who was there.

_Hem Hem…_

In trotted Professor Umbridge, looking particularly smug about something.

"Dolores… don't you have a class?" Professor McGonagall asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, don't worry Professor McGonagall," said Professor Umbridge happily, "It's just the First Years, all they're doing is reading Chapter 28. Filch is watching them for me."

"I imagine that's a sight to behold," Emily couldn't help mutter, "The caretaker taking over the Headmistress' class for a day."

Another warning look came from Professor McGonagall. She seemed worried about Emily when she was around Professor Umbridge, and it wasn't hard to see why. Professor Umbridge glanced angrily at Emily, but had a cheerful expression on her face when she faced McGonagall.

"Minerva, if I may, I've a small note here, showing some of the latest test scores on some of you more… uh… worrisome students," she said, holding up a pink parchment square with some violet ink on it.

"Let me guess whose on there," Emily muttered, getting another look from both the teachers.

"Thank you Dolores, you can go," said Professor McGonagall, seizing the paper and shoving it into Harry's folder.

"No, thank _you_, Professor McGonagall. Excuse me," said Professor Umbridge, smiling evilly and leaving the room.

"Well. At least now we won't be interrupted," Professor McGonagall said, retrieving Emily's folder.

"I'm kind of surprised. I expected her to be here sooner than that," Emily said, smirking.

The merest twitch of Professor McGonagall's face was enough to tell Emily that she'd hit the target. Softening a bit, Professor McGonagall scrolled over Emily's most recent grades.

"I see… well, you're doing an Average job in Transfiguration, but you need to work harder if you're planning N.E.W.T. Same for Charms and History of Magic. Your Potions, I'm proud to say, is outstanding, and you're definitely a candidate for Professor Snape's N.E.W.T. classes."

"Thank you," said Emily, smiling.

"However… your other grades leave a bit to be desired. Astronomy and Herbology can be brought up, although you have an E in Astronomy, it's dropped from the O you were getting at the beginning of the year. And Herbology seems to be a recent fall… from A to P in less than a week. Was this after the time your friend was told off?"

_How did she know?_ Emily thought, _How did she know Matt, Seth, Lisa and I had shown our contempt for her by doing horrible on her assignments and insulting plants in general?_

"Remember, Miss Davis," said Professor McGonagall, smiling slightly, "Teachers talk as well. I meet with all my colleagues to discuss my students, and your name has come up quite often. Divination could be better, although almost everyone in Gryffindor has a little below an A… Defense Against the Dark Arts is somewhere between a D and T… but we won't go there. Care of Magical Creatures… well, Hagrid seems to think you show a very good compatibility with them. You've actually got an E+ in the class…"

"Professor," Emily said suddenly, "What sorts of jobs can I get involving Magical Creatures?"

"Well… let me see…" said Professor McGonagall, "There's a few Ministry positions…"

"Skip," Emily said quickly.

"… as I expected. Now… there are things such as taming of dangerous beasts, independent research on animals, and various areas around the world need people to help take care of magical beasts for studies and for other things."

"Any in Japan?" Emily asked curiously.

"I'm sure," said Professor McGonagall.

"That might be what I'll do. Or something similar. Thank you, Professor," Emily said, standing.

"Oh, and if you do go into that business, they want a N.E.W.T. in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions. The first and second should be obvious. The third is to adapt to certain positions animals may throw you in to (including Aparation and such), and the fourth and fifth, of course, is for medicines if you were to enter a veterinary occupation. You also might want Defense Against the Dark Arts as some beasts can be dangerous."

"I see. Thank you," Emily said, turning to leave. She opened the door and ran right into Bridget, who was just arriving.

"Like, watch where you're going!" snarled Bridget, jumping slightly as Emily stepped on her toes. She had worn stylish sandals, the moron.

"Like, watch who you snap at. Some might just, like, snap back," Emily said, glaring.

"Is there a problem, ladies?" Professor Flitwick said, just happening to be passing by again.

"No, Sir," Bridget said, giving Emily a filthy look.

"Bridget, there's something between your front teeth," Emily said, smirking.

The girl gasped and ran into Professor McGonagall's office. With a satisfied smirk, Emily turned and headed back to Potions.

Caitlin left her Care of Magical Creatures class without a word to Hagrid. They were talking about some strange fish that lived in the lake or something… but her mind kept wandering about the meeting ahead. She had been thinking a lot lately and she had finally decided on what she wanted: Unicorn Taming. She was, after all, in love with horses and unicorns were just the magical version of horses. They were beautiful and graceful too, plus only females could handle them. She decided she was one of those who could.

As she descended the steps to the dungeons, she adopted her usual swagger, perfected by her and Draco, while looking utterly nonchalant and bored with the proceedings. She didn't pass many people and, all too soon, was in front of Snape's door. She listened for a moment, heard no voices, and knocked.

"Come on," came a cool voice.

"I'm here for my 'Career Advice,' sir," Caitlin drawled, sitting in a chair in front of Snape's desk. He regarded her for a moment before getting a file from his desk and scanning it carefully before looking up at her.

"I see Professor Flitwick has graded you in the O category for Charms. And I must say your Potions are little more than Average. I suggest you bring them up if you plan to study N.E.W.T. with me. Speaking of which, what have you decided as your career?" Snape inquired.

"Unicorn Taming," Caitlin said quickly. Snape looked up sharply, "You'll need very good grades in Potions, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures, of course."

"Why all those?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, I would think the last would be obvious," Snape said, lip curling, "Charms to charm the Unicorn and make them feel at peace, Potions for their different needs and ailments, Herbology for their diets, Transfiguration for various reasons… and Defense Against the Dark Arts would be good. Get a unicorn near anything the least bit dark and they'll be in the next country before you can blink."

"Oh," was all Caitlin said. Inwardly, she wondered if it was even worth all the trouble… but then decided the unicorns were too pretty and gentle to not be tamed.


	12. Chapter 12

"Have you any other questions?" Snape asked, shutting her folder.

"Pay and Hiring?"

"That depends," Snape said, taking a pamphlet on the Taming of Unicorns, "Some countries, mainly African ones, need more unicorns and will pay higher… in their currency, whatever it's worth. I know Ireland and the United States pay well, though employment is hard to find. There is a branch in the Ministry that deals with unicorns and many of their witches are retiring within the next few years…"

"Yeah, I'll look into that, then," Caitlin said, standing, "Thanks."

"Yes, back off to your lessons with you," Snape said, reaching for Jo Hammer's folder.

Caitlin instead went and sat in the Common Room until lessons concluded, and her friends returned.

Matt didn't even go to Defense Against the Dark Arts to tell Professor Umbridge where he was going to be. Instead, he headed straight for Professor Sinistra's Astronomy Tower for his Career Advice. He'd been thinking all day long about what options met his criteria: freedom to be creative, being helpful, and something people would need to be intelligent to do, and, perhaps something everyone would respect him for doing. None came to mind.

"What could I possibly do that allows me everything I want?" Matt muttered.

The door to the Astronomy Office was unlocked and slightly ajar, but Matt still knocked before entering. Professor Sinistra admitted him and he sat in a comfortable chair across from her desk. It had changed slightly since he'd last been in there: it was so much neater. On the left were bookcases full of things about the stars, moons, planets, and other galaxies. On the ceiling was a moving diorama of the sky to the human eye, rotating slowly as the Earth did, too. On the right were large posters of different Astronomy-related things, but, on her desk, was a series of folders and other papers. Some had student names, others had the pamphlets on careers, sorted by general work, work environment, and pay rate. Matt waited while Professor Sinistra dug out a paper with all of Matt's up-to-date grades.

"Well, Matt," she said, smiling, "I'm pleased to see you have kept an O in Transfiguration and Astronomy. You've also got an E in… Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Divination. You're managing an A in Charms and Herbology, but your Potions is around a D. You'll want to bring that up. And your Defense Against the Dark Arts is between D and T… and, while I disapprove of Professor Umbridge myself, I must ask you to try and bring your grade up in there to the best of your abilities."

"Last time I wrote her an essay, 3 inches longer than she wanted," Matt said coldly, "She tore it up and accused me of disagreeing with Slinkhart again."

"I understand you take pride in your writing," Professor Sinistra said kindly, "But to be a good writer, sometimes you have to be able to adapt to what people want to hear. Even if it's not what you believe in."

"I don't think I could write something I don't believe in, though," Matt said.

"Yes, there's always that aspect in it. However, if you really want to succeed in being a good writer, you have to make yourself… how should I say this… flexible to certain types of writing."

"I see what you mean… and I guess I'll try on our next assignment. _Try_ being the key word, of course," Matt said, biting his tongue so as not to say anything he'd regret.

"Now, have you had any ideas as to what you want to do?"

"Well…" Matt said, "I think… I want… well, I want a job that allows me to be creative and flexible, one that I'm somewhat respected for and one that not everyone can do."

"Hmm…" said Sinistra, thinking, "Have you… ever considered Teaching?"

"Teaching? As in… Muggle or Magic?" Matt asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Magic, of course," Sinistra said, "There's a lot of opportunities for it."

"Yes… maybe I could run a small school for younger witches and wizards and such…" said Matt.

"As of now," said Professor Sinistra, "The lowest age in Britain, Ireland, and Scotland is 11 years of age to begin schooling. However… if you were serious about opening a smaller school, you could appear in front of the Ministry of Magic and they may grant you a request to open a primary school… hmm…"

"I would think that would be good," Matt said, enthusiastically, "Because then students could learn better and Hogwarts' curriculum could teach them more."

"Yes! That's a brilliant idea. If only the Ministry would approve it," Sinistra said, looking slightly crestfallen at that thought.

"Pity Fudge runs it," Matt muttered.

"You might try America. There's plenty of primary schools there to be employed in. And Salem's teachers will be retiring soon, too."

"That's a great idea. What do I need?" Matt asked.

"As many N.E.W.T.s as you can get. They recommend… 6 minimum, and you, obviously, need one in whatever class you want to teach…"

"Transfiguration!" Matt said, happily.

"Yes, you seem to enjoy that class the most," Sinistra replied smiling, "But you should really look into Defense Against the Dark Arts. We might need you to teach when you're older…"

Matt laughed and stood, extending his hand, "Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, Matt," she replied, also standing and shaking the outstretched hand. Matt turned and headed for Defense Against the Dark Arts, knowing nothing could stop him now.

"Where have you been, Mr. Warren?" Professor Umbridge asked in her high-pitched voice as he entered.

"Career Advice," Matt said, sitting down without a care in the world. His thoughts were still on the school he was now planning to open.

"Do you have a pass?" asked Professor Umbridge.

"Nope," Matt said airily, wondering what he should call the school.

"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to take 10 points from Ravenclaw," Professor Umbridge said, raising an eyebrow to his cheerfulness.

"As is expected," Matt said, still trying to decide between which courses he'd offer. Flying class, too…

"And we have a three parchment essay due Mondy," Umbridge said, clearly annoyed that she wasn't angering him.

"Brilliant! I can't wait to get started on it," Matt said, right as the bell rang. He rushed out with the others, leaving Umbridge standing three rows back, her mouth open wide.

The weekend passed as quickly as it started. Matt, as planned, worked hard on his essay. When he was done, he made sure there weren't any insults to Slinkhart's opinions and, while he would have never written something if he was allowed his opinions, it was passable. Emily had done exactly what Professor McGonagall had suggested, and worked on her homework in the classes that needed to be brought up. Caitlin, grudgingly, reviewed more of the review packet the teachers had given them while her friends were out on the grounds having fun. Even Malfoy had abandoned her for the day.

Monday was one of the best days (in terms of classes) that the three had attended all year. Matt stayed awake long enough to take 2 full pages of notes in History of Magic (Emily and Caitlin managed ¾ of a page; their personal records!) In Potions, Emily received her marks for Friday's Potion: An O in both. She also got an E on an essay she'd written over the weekend. Caitlin also received good grades on her Potions work, and Matt managed an A on his Potion of Earwax Clearing. Firenze began a new unit on centaur wisdom, but the way he explained it was so confusing none of the 5th Years really understood it. Matt dropped his essay on Umbridge's desk in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Matt, Emily, and Caitlin read Chapter 34 without complaint (only because Umbridge looked capable of murder during their class).

After class, Caitlin headed for the Library to finish up a small History of Magic essay, Matt and Lisa decided to take a walk around the castle, and Emily headed back to the Common Room to get her Quidditch gear. When they were returning, however, each ran into a small snare.

"Lisa, we need to get to the Great Hall to meet the others," Matt sighed as Lisa stopped to tie her shoe again.

"I'm sorry… this stupid thing won't stay tied," she said, fumbling with the knot.

"That's why you wear sandals, like me," Matt said, happily indicating the open-toed shoes under his robes.

"Heh… I'm so glad I got you turned on to them," Lisa picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"Well… I guess you played a _small_ part in it," Matt said as the two began the walk along the corridor.

"Small? Did I not tell you how comfortable they were?" Lisa said, shoving him slightly.

"Yeah, but—" Matt began but was cut short.

Out of nowhere, a strange rush of murky and muddy water came from behind them. The two screamed as they, as well as two dozen other students in the corridor, were whisked off their feet and under the water.

Meanwhile, Caitlin had finished the essay in record time. She knew she was going to get a P or maybe an A if she was lucky, but she didn't worry. She had made a decision only to focus on the classes that would really come in handy in her future as a Unicorn Tamer. Her thoughts had left the castle and were out in the pastures and mountains, and she imagined herself riding on back of the majestic horse-like creature with one horn. Now all she had to do was decide where to move to do actually train them.

"Hopefully somewhere around Athens or at least in Pennsylvania somewhere, and if not, I'd say around here so I could be with Draco," she said as she approached the stairs. As she was about to step on the landing, the stairs disappeared and she screamed as she fell.

Emily had been doing some work in Charms and Herbology when she and Seth decided to leave. They were both exhausted mentally and were looking forward to a nice, long dinner. And perhaps some reading afterwards, and Emily was considering playing DDR, too. However, when they reached the Library's floor, Seth said he was going to head back to the dorm first. Emily nodded and continued toward the Grand Staircase.

She couldn't help but wonder if she could keep up her grades to N.E.W.T. standards. Even though her career path was not as terribly difficult as many others, they still seemed to want an obnoxiously high number of N.E.W.T.s for it. Still fuming over this, she reached the end of the hallway to find the stairs had vanished.

"God dammit… of all the luck," she sighed and turned, but then heard something strange.

"Help!" came a call.

"What the…?" Emily said, "That voice… sounds familiar." She rushed to the edge of the stairs and saw a hand clinging to it. Without thinking, she dove to her stomach and grabbed the hand, pulling it up.

"Thanks," said the other when she was at the top, "The stairs just…"

She broke off when she saw Emily. Emily also saw her and her eyes widened. It was Caitlin.

"Er… yeah. I just wasn't watching and the stairs moved. Probably a Peeve's trick," Caitlin said, brushing herself off slightly haughtily, "But… thanks."

"Yeah, no problem," Emily said, and turning to walk away without another word.

"… she saved me. And to think… I thought she hated me," Caitlin muttered, "Would any of my friends have saved me… or let me hang there…"

"… why did I save her?" Emily muttered, "I can't stand her… she's so… evil. But… I guess I didn't know who it was when she was hanging over the edge, so…"

Both heard screams from somewhere in the castle. Emily darted down the nearest staircase while Caitlin took the now-reappeared stairs to the Entrance Hall. They almost collided again as they emerged from doors right next to each other, before running to the staircase. Their vision was almost de ja vu, same as the night Trelawney was sacked.

The entire castle seemed to have formed a huge circle by the landing. Students from all houses were standing intermixed (some covered in a murky, sticky substance, which both Americans found hysterical), while Professor Umbridge stood about 3 stairs up. In the center this time were Fred and George Weasley, and Emily's heart skipped a beat. They were caught and there was no escaping this time, especially if the rumors about Filch being able to whip students were true. Harry Potter suddenly arrived out of a door to Emily's left and he stood next to her, exchanging a confused glance before turning back to Umbridge. Caitlin had worked her way to the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad.

"So!" Umbridge was saying gleefully, "you think it's amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah," said Fred evenly, standing with his back straight and head up.

Then, Filch showed up. He elbowed and shoved his way to Umbridge, and they were all worried to see tears of glee on his face. He was also waving some parchment, and everyone knew that could only mean one thing…

"I've got the form Headmistress," he said, hoarsely, "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… oh, let me do it now…"

"Very good, Argus," Umbridge said, with a triumphant smirk, "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

Emily gasped. Caitlin smirked, unable to stand the wait of seeing two Gryffindors whipped like animals.

"You know what?" Fred said, "I don't think we are."

As he turned to his twin, he said, "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," George replied.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Fred inquired.

"Definitely," George replied.

"What are they planning?" Harry muttered.

"I think… they're leaving," Emily said.

"_Accio brooms_!" shouted the twins, raising their wands.

There was a crash somewhere in the depths of the castle. Emily turned and immediately ducked, just in time for a broom to zoom over where her head had been a second before. The other one had a large, heavy chain and iron peg on it, zoomed over Harry. Both brooms stopped in mid-air before the twins, ready to ride.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred shouted to Umbridge, mounting his broom.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," George added, also leaping onto his.

Then, the two Weasleys addressed the crowd as a whole.

"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley – Weasley's Wizard Wheeze. Our new premises!" Fred shouted.

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," George added, pointing to Umbridge and Filch.

"STOP THEM!" roared Umbridge.

Caitlin and the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad moved forward, trying to get the brooms. The twins kicked off and soared about 15 feet in the air. The peg swung dangerously below them, keeping the Slytherin students at bay. Peeves the Poltergeist was bobbing above the students, watching with amusement and interest.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!" Fred said.

To everyone's amazement, Peeves stood at attention, swept his belled hat from his head, and saluted the twins. The crowd of students and teachers alike roared, whistled, and clapped as the twins turned, and soared out of the castle and into the sunset, leaving Emily crying with mirth.

Matt and Lisa had been watching from the large circle and, as everyone thinned out talking excitedly about what they'd just seen, they wiped some of the gunk off of their faces. They were both slightly embarrassed, but it was worth it. Matt was so impressed by the Weasley's that he vowed to buy one of these little swamps himself before he went back to America.

"I wonder what they made this out of," Lisa muttered, scrapping some more off her shoes.

"Ugh… it's between my toes and everything," Matt moaned, looking at his sandals and feet.

"That's why you wear sneakers, like me," Lisa said, showing him how her feet were dry and muck less.

"Oh… whatever," Matt smirked, throwing gunk on her robes.

"Hey!" she shouted, throwing more. Laughing, they ran back to their Common Room, getting gunk on the walls, portraits, and windows for Filch to clean off when he recovered from the loss of whipping his biggest rivals.

Things at Hogwarts went crazy after that. Over the next week and a half, three new things came into effect. First, the 5th floor corridor was roped off because Filch and Umbridge just… couldn't get rid of the swamp. Second, Filch had begun to prowl the corridors with a whip, but so many people pelted him with Stink Pellets and Fanged Frisbees that he just couldn't seem to keep up. And third, nearly everyone was starting to perform the Bubble Head Charm before leaving their classrooms because the new pranksters were over-using Stink Pellets and Dungbombs and causing un-breathable air in the corridors.

Peeves seemed to have started a war against Umbridge. Everyone seemed to think he was a pain before, but now he was just a holy terror. Ironically, no one minded being attacked by ink bottles, or having carpets pulled from under them, or being showered with broken glass because it just meant more work for Filch and especially Umbridge. Among other things, Peeves would burst out of blackboards, send piles of Umbridge's best parchment into the fire, knock over tables, and pelt the High Inquisitor/Headmistress with chalk and other small objects. Mrs. Norris was constantly shoved into strange places, including suits of armor, and Umbridge was constantly stalked by Peeves, who would make loud noises and raspberries whenever she tried to speak.

Along with Peeves, Umbridge was having trouble keeping her classes under control. That was explained very well the Monday after the twins had soared out of the castle. Matt, Lisa, Emily, and Seth had met before class and debated on which Skiving Snackboxes to use. Emily chose a the vomiting snack, Lisa chose the one causing a person to pass out, Seth took a fever-inducing candy, and Matt took out the nosebleed kind. Just as the bell rang, they, along with ¾ of the class, immediately took their medicines and began their horrible sicknesses.

Lisa, along with about 5 other girls, shook slightly and fell out of their seats. Emily and nearly all the Hufflepuffs started violently gagging and vomiting into wastebaskets they'd brought with them. Seth and the entire Ravenclaw house (minus Matt and Lisa) started sweating pools of sweat and had extremely red faces. Matt and Dean Thomas suddenly had explosive nosebleeds, and no amount of tissues would stem the flow.

"What is wrong with all of you?!" shrieked Umbridge as Hermione and the Slytherins watched their ailing classmates.

"It's the Umbridge-itis," shrieked Melody, "We're all gonna die!"

"What foolishness is this?!" Umbridge exploded, "What do you students mean? Stop it this instant!"

"We can't," Emily shouted before resuming her puking fit.

"Ma'am, I think she's dead!" shouted Matt, pointing to Lisa, who lay on the floor, "And my nose won't stop bleeding!"

"But… but…" Umbridge said, but the noise of vomiting, complaints, and the huge amount of blood Matt and Dean seemed to lose finally broke her and she resented, letting them leave, dragging the swooned girls after them.

"Did it work?" Lisa asked after Matt fed her the antidote.

"Yes, but she gave our entire class detention," Matt smirked, "Except Hermione and the Slytherins because they stayed behind."

"Cool. Let's go swimming, we've got an hour," she replied. Seth and Emily also agreed they wanted to go swimming, and the first week of May was exceptionally hot this time.

As they approached the like in their swim gear, they spied Luna Lovegood, Rachel Younger, and Ginny Weasley swimming out by the Giant Squid, tickling his tentacles. Luna was sitting next to him, talking to him and patting the spot under his eye.

"Hey!" Matt called, jumping in to the water. It wasn't freezing as it should be after April, but it was enough to be refreshing.

"Let's go water-skiing!" Ginny shouted.

"With the squid?" Matt asked, shocked.

"Yes, he rather enjoys it," Luna said, swimming over to a tentacle.

"There's too many of us," Matt said.

"I'll just watch," Rachel said, looking nervous.

"Nonsense, you can ride with me," Luna said, smiling.

Matt, Lisa, Luna and Rachel, Seth, Emily, and Ginny each took a tentacle. The squid's eye looked back at them for a moment before kicking forward and swimming across the entire lake. With gleeful shouts and laughs, all 7 students were whisked at nearly 40 miles an hour across the huge lake and around the castle.

Inside Defense Against the Dark Arts, Caitlin watched with some jealousy as the others played on the grounds of the castle. Umbridge was explaining something from Chapter 39 ("Negotiation Continued"), but she wasn't listening. A wasp landed outside the window and, having nothing better to do, Caitlin froze it with Petrificus Totalus and watched it plummet to the ground.

"Careful, don't let Umbridge see you use magic," Draco whispered as Umbridge turned to write something on the board.

"Yeah, I'll get expelled and whipped," Caitlin smiled sadly.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Just… bored. And angry that they're getting away with skipping classes," said Caitlin, glaring out the window.

"I could get us out, you know," Draco smirked.

"How?" Caitlin asked.

"Professor! I just remembered, it was Murphy and my turn to patrol the 3rd floor! Especially with everything that's been horrible lately, you don't want one of us to forget to patrol!" Malfoy said, standing.

"Yes, yes, do go. We'll be having a quiz on Chapters 34 to 39 next lesson," Umbridge said, still writing ways you can stop someone from jinxing you.

"Thank you, ma'am," said Malfoy, walking past the solitary Hermione, the only one left in the class besides Slytherins.

When they were at the third floor, Malfoy and Caitlin took a door that lead to a balcony outside. The balcony connected 2 of the larger turrets and was the perfect place to skip a lesson at.

"So… have you been practicing your Dark Arts?" Malfoy asked as the warm wind blew through the balcony.

"Not as much. O.W.L.s are just a few weeks away you know," Caitlin said, sitting on a bench.

"True," said Malfoy, sitting next to her, "But the Dark Lord's rising is close at hand, too."

"Yeah, well, I—" Caitlin began but was cut short when the door opened from the other side.

Three Hufflepuffs (Mateo Martine, Zacharias Smith, and Ernie MacMillan) emerged, each chatting about this and that and what lessons they'd skipped. They all froze when they saw them.

"Well well well… what do you three think you're doing?" Malfoy asked gleefully.

"We're just walking around," said Mateo defensively.

"And during lessons, eh?" Caitlin added, also standing.

"Yes… what about you guys?" Ernie peered at them.

"Oh… you know… patrolling and such," Malfoy sneered.

"Right… like we're supposed to believe that," said Zacharias, his arms crossed.

"Well, I can see Hufflepuff deserves some points taken away," said Malfoy.

"5 from each of you for skipping…" Caitlin said.

"10 from Mateo for being a Mudblood…" Malfoy said.

"5 from Ernie for having his tie loosened," Caitlin added.

"And 5 from Zacharias for crossing his arms like a woman," concluded Malfoy.

"That's… 25 points! You can't do that!" shouted Mateo.

"Says who? Now get to class, or do I have to get rough with you?" Malfoy snarled, whipping out his wand.

"We're going, we're going," Ernie said, quickly dragging his friends with him.

"Not fast enough!" shouted Caitlin, sending a Phantasmal Kick at the trio. All three were knocked forward through the door, which Malfoy promptly closed and locked.

"Hey, let's go. Might as well go see if we can find some Gryffindors," Malfoy said as the two went the other way and back into the main castle.

"This weekend is the match between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. If Hufflepuff wins, we'll be in it for the House Cup!" Blaine said excitedly at lunch Tuesday morning in the first week of May.

"If Slytherin wins by more than 210 points, however, we'll play them instead of Gryffindor. Hufflepuff has to win by over 350 points to play us," Nate added.

"Not gonna happen," said Melody, "We're gonna win one way or another."

"I'm not so sure… Slytherin is very tough," Matt said, crunching bacon and patting Cyclone who had decided to be with Matt.

"And, even if you play Gryffindor, Emily's getting to be a really good Seeker," Lisa warned.

"Oh no!' Mandy suddenly cried, "We can't go to the match even if we want to! We have detention with Umbridge!"

"Crap, you're right…" Matt groaned, "Thanks to everyone skiving off the lesson, we've all got detention. Lovely."

"What will she make us do?" Lisa asked as she and Matt headed for Charms.

"Probably something along the lines of cutting our extremities open and pumping intestinal juice out of our eyeballs," said Matt flatly as the two left the Great Hall.

"Seth, are you done yet?" Emily asked impatiently as her friend took his time on his porridge.

"Huh? Oh… yeah…" Seth looked up. He seemed deep in thought about something.

"What's wrong?" asked Emily, curiously.

"Nothing… I got a letter from Mom and I'm a bit worried. She said… well… never mind," Seth sighed again.

"What?" Emily asked.

"I'll explain when I'm ready," Seth replied somewhat curtly before leaving the Great Hall.

"Hmm… oh, Red Wing!" said Emily happily as her Mini-Eagle flew down to meet her. He landed on her shoulder and touched her beak to Emily's cheek affectionately.

"I hate to make you leave so quickly, but I got lessons… hey… what's this?" Emily asked, taking a note from the bird.

She opened it to find one word, hastily written: Thanks.

Wondering who sent her the note, Emily pocketed it, let Red Wing fly off, and sauntered off to Charms.

Caitlin watched from the Slytherin table as Emily left. She either hadn't noticed the handwriting or didn't care. Either way, Caitlin felt more at ease now that she'd thanked her former friend for saving her life. Raven was also perched on her shoulder and he drank out of her goblet before nipping her ear and flying off. She watched him fly before Jo brought her back to Earth.

"… and Montague still hasn't recovered. If he doesn't get well soon, we'll lose this weekend's match," Jo moaned.

"Yeah, true," Caitlin said, looking forward and clearly. Jo, Cait, Pansy, Millicent, and Ashley were the only ones in their small section of the table. The boys had already left and the other couple girls were gone to their lessons, too.

"We have to beat Gryffindor this year. We can't lose, especially with Weasley's abysmal goal-keeping," Pansy said, smirking, "I'm sure the final match will be hands-down Slytherin."

"Heck yes! And I'm sure Umbridge will find a way to kick Angelina off the team as she's the only good player left," smirked Cait.

"Hey, I'm gonna go now. See you guys later," Caitlin said, walking off with Jo and Cait, both chatting about how the game was going to be a great decider.

"I can't wait to see the look on Sprout's face when she watches us steal victory from her pathetic Hufflepuff house once again!" said Cait maliciously as they mounted the staircase and headed for class.

"Today, we're going to be learning how to give legs to inanimate objects. Now, you've all got teacups in front of you, you know the incantation I hope, so I'll give you about… 10 minutes to practice before I come around to check on you," Professor Flitwick said a few minutes after class had started and everyone had settled down.

"What was it again? _Affero Cruris_, right?" Matt muttered to Lisa as he, Blaine, and Melody took a table near the windows.

"Sure," Lisa said, tapping her teacup. It suddenly grew 3 legs, which it hopped awkwardly around on.

"Well… it sort of worked. _Affero Cruris!_" Matt said, rapping his teacup with his wand. It, too, grew legs… 8 of them, to be exact. However, whenever it stood up to move, it immediately tripped and fell over its own legs, to the delight of the Ravenclaws.

"_Affero Cruris!"_ Emily said at the next table over, also rapping the teacup lightly. Hers grew 4 legs, but they weren't quite strong enough to give the teacup enough force to walk straight. Seth, with no emotion in his voice, recited the spell and… well, nothing happened.

"You're going to tell me, you know," Emily said, smirking.

"Maybe," Seth said with no trace of humor.

"This isn't like you. What is wrong?" Emily said, while her teacup tried vainly to walk in a straight line.

"Look, I'll tell you when I'm ready," Seth growled and Emily backed off. He was angry.

"Sorry," she said, slightly offended.

"Why won't this work?!" shouted Cait, exasperated at her failed attempts to get a sturdy teacup.

"You're pronouncing it wrong! It's _Cruris_, not Curis!" Jo said impatiently, tapping her own teacup. Like many others', it grew some legs, but not long enough to touch the floor.

"_Affero Cruris!_" Caitlin said in a fake-bored tone as she tapped her own cup. Its legs sprang up and it cantered around, leaping over the other teacups.

"How does she do that?" groaned Cait, smacking her teacup again.

"She concentrates. Try it for once," Jo said, as her teacup rolled to its side.

"Affero Cruris…" Cait said, bored. The legs jutted out at strange angles this time… and there were five of them.

"Hey! Isn't that Montague's parents?" asked a Hufflepuff the Americans didn't know.

Matt, Emily, and Caitlin squashed to the front of the window to see. Matt sighed, seeing them. The father, Mr. Montague, was almost the spitting image of his son (or vice-versa). He had buck teeth, a rather disfigured nose, beady, narrow eyes, and very hairy eyebrows. He was also big and muscular, something Montague was on his way to becoming. Mrs. Montague would've looked very nice had she not married him, and, for a fleeting instant, Matt wondered why she had. But then he noticed the furious looks on their face as they stomped up the drive, knocking some second years returning from Herbology out of the way.

"Wow… they're pissed," Matt said, returning to his seat as Professor Flitwick admonished Neville for his single-legged teacup.

"Yeah… I wouldn't want to be Umbridge right now," Lisa said.

"I wouldn't want to be Umbridge ever," Emily said as Professor Flitwick arrived at their table.

"Hmm… Miss Davis, if you concentrate a bit more on the size, it might work better. Remember, strength, not length," said Professor Flitwick with a cheery laugh.

"Yes… sir," Emily said, fighting the extreme urge to laugh.

"And… Mr. McGuire, have you tried the spell?" Flitwick asked, peering over the table top.

"Yes," snapped Seth.

"Hmm…" Professor Flitwick moved on without another word. Everyone stared rather worriedly at Seth.

"Mr. Warren… well, you seem to have the right idea, but try not to think of spiders when casting," Professor Flitwick said as the teacup turned its fang-like handle towards his nose.

"Yes, sir," Matt said, hurriedly snatching the teacup away.

"Miss Murphy!" said Professor Flitwick happily, "And Miss Granger, both of you. Splendid work, 10 points to each of you."

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said.

"Yes, thanks," said Caitlin with just a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

"Oh, and Miss Raub, I suggest you concentrate and pronunciation better next time," Professor Flitwick said, walking away.

"_Concentrate and speak clearly!!_ God, that guys' like a friggen' rhyming dictionary," Cait spat.

"Well, at least we got 10 points," said Caitlin.

"Whatever," Cait said as her teacup tripped Caitlin's with its many legs and sent it shattering to the floor as it leapt above it.

That Saturday was the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin game. However… none of the Americans could attend. Matt and Emily, along with almost their entire Defense Against the Dark Arts (and the 7th Class A and both 2nd Year Classes) had to spend the afternoon in a mass detention in the classroom. It was sweltering hot and all had to write _"I will not suffer from Umbridge-itis or any related sicknesses in an effort to skip out of Defense Against the Dark Arts_," for 5 hours straight. Thankfully, Umbridge didn't have enough quills for the blood trick, so all they had to do was suffer from writer's cramp and sweat half to death.

Caitlin was looking forward to finally seeing her man play again. However, Umbridge took her, Jo, and Cait aside and ordered them to help her keep watch over the students in detention. After trying every excuse to get out of it, Caitlin grudgingly took on the task of sitting in the classroom and watching for slackers. She got to drink ice cold lemonade while the others wrote, however, and that made her feel a bit better.

When everyone was let out at four, the match was long over. Matt and Emily got their information from Hermione; Caitlin got it from Malfoy himself.

"It was a rip off!" Malfoy exploded as he and Caitlin sat by the lake, "We were ahead by 60 points, and I caught the Snitch. Apparently, however, that ass Zacharias Smith got a goal in JUST before they acknowledged my catch. So we won, but we don't have enough points to move on to the finals."

"That bitch… I hate Madam Hooch," snarled Caitlin, sympathizing with her boyfriend.

"Yeah, whatever. We'll be sure to have Ravenclaw win that match, though. Did you see my catch anyway?" Malfoy asked, hopefully.

"No," said Caitlin, scowling, "The High Inquisitor had me, Jo, and Cait patrol her classroom with her while those classes did their stupid lines."

"Ouch. Well, you didn't miss much. The final score was 20 to 220, so we were 10 points from replacing Gryffindor in the finals."

"WE MIGHT HAVE A SHOT!" Hermione squealed as the Gryffindors, Matt, and Lisa greeted her when they left Umbridge's room.

"Huh?" Ron said, his eyes lighting up as though he didn't dare believe it.

"Slytherin won, but only by 200 points! Gryffindor is going to the finals!" shouted Hermione.

The cheers that went up from the Gryffindors were enough to almost knock out a windowpane nearby. The Ravenclaws, however, were more relieved than anything. If they were going to play Gryffindor, they would have a huge chance of winning. And that thought alone got them through the rest of May and into the final weekend of the match.

Studying was put on hold for the Saturday of the game. Matt, Lisa, Rachel, Luna, Ginny, and a couple other Ravenclaws had made hats that had real-life-looking eagles perched on the brims and were wearing them, along with all sorts of other Ravenclaw items. Emily was slightly nervous about the upcoming game, but she wouldn't let it show. She left the still-moody Seth for the Quidditch Team tent early so she could be ready.

The day couldn't have been better for a match. It was clear, with small, puffy clouds in the sky. There was just enough wind to create a refreshing breeze so that one didn't bake in the sun, and there was no threat of any type of storm for the final match. Everyone was excited and getting more and more pumped up for the match, even Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Slytherin, of course, was hoping for Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff was mixed between.

The Ravenclaws were sitting behind and to the right of their Keeper, hats squawking and voices cheering. Most of the Slytherins and Gryffindors were behind Ron. Hufflepuffs were displaced throughout, and Professor Umbridge was sitting right in the middle where she could keep an eye on the entire game, just in case their was trouble. The Inquisitorial Squad surrounded her, waiting for the word to attack.

Inside the tent, Emily sat as Angelina made her speech. She, too, seemed nervous and shaky, and it wasn't hard to see why.

"We need to all do our best. Girls, we need to put the Quaffle in the other goals. Ravenclaw, statistics show, has the best Chaser Trio at Hogwarts this Year. Slosher, Kirke, we're counting on you to protect our own… and not injure yourselves. Ron… well, just do your best," said Angelina, turning to each in turn.

"Emily," she said, "If ever you catch the Snitch quickly, this is it. You need to be at your best, and I know I've been harsh on you lately, but I'm hoping it pays off today."

"I'll get it so fast Cho will be begging for my mercy," Emily said, her usual sarcasm a bit tainted because of nerves.

"That's the spirit," Angelina said, before striding to get her broom. She beckoned the team to follow her and lead them onto the field. Ravenclaw was already assembled and Lee Jordan was reading the names off as the Gryffindors showed up.

"Johnson, Bell, Spinnet, Kirke, Slosher, Weasley, and Davis," Lee had said, but absent of his usual exaggerated voice and snide comments.

From the stands, Matt was torn. Who to cheer for… his house or his friend? Upon further reflection, he actually took off his Ravenclaw hat and handed it to a First Year, one of Rachel's Friends. When Lisa looked quizzically at him, he explained.

"The entire Ravenclaw Team screwed me over and treated me like dirt all this year. I'd rather cheer for my friend, even though I would enjoy seeing Ravenclaw win, too," Matt said, seriously.

"You're right… but I'm a die-hard Ravenclaw girl," Lisa replied.

"I didn't say you had to support them," grinned Matt.

"Very true," Lisa said as the Quaffle was thrown into the air.

"And they're off!" Lee said, "And Davies takes the Quaffle immediately, Ravenclaw Captain Davies with the Quaffle, he dodges Johnson, he dodges Bell, he dodges Spinet as well… He's going straight for a goal! He's going to shoot – and – and – DAMMIT! And he's scored."

Lisa, Rachel, and most of the other Ravenclaws cheered wildly at this. Matt sighed, remaining seated.

"Ready everyone?!" Pansy's cry came from the front row, "And a one, two, three, four!"

"_Weasley cannot save a thing,_

_He cannot block a single ring_

_That's why Slytherins all sing_

_Weasley is our King!"_

"Oh great, that song again," Emily snarled while flying 30 feet above the rest of the game. She saw Cho trailing her, and Emily decided to have a bit of fun with her.

As the Slytherins sang and play continued, Emily whirled upside-down and dove straight at Cho. The Ravenclaw looked wildly around, thinking Emily had spotted the Snitch. With an evil grin on her face, Emily shot so close that she grazed Cho's broom and almost sent her flying.

"Watch it!" Cho shouted, flying to one side.

"Sorry, thought I saw the Snitch," Emily sniggered and flew off towards Ron's goal. As she watched, Bradley was flying towards the goal, obviously intending to score. The Slytherins, as usual, were getting louder by the minute, and Emily was sure this was it.

"And here comes Bradley, going for a goal!" Lee shouted.

"Bradley. Thou who is less talented than I," muttered Matt while the Ravenclaws stood on edge, watching.

"And he shoots… and it's going, going… going… and… he…" Lee gasped, as did everyone in the stadium, "NO GOAL! Gryffindor Keeper, Ron Weasley saves his first goal of the season!"

Ravenclaw stood, stunned, as the Gryffindors and their supporters leapt to their feet and cheered loud enough to make the stadium shake. The Slytherins, right in the middle of the "Weasley was born in a bin," verse were struck dumb, their mouths hanging open. When the cheers had died down and Lee found his voice, he continued.

"And it's Spinnet with the Quaffle, she's passed Bradley, Chambers, Davies, the Ravenclaw Beater, name unimportant, and she… SCORES!" shouted Lee, happily.

Again, Gryffindor erupted into cheers. Emily dive-bombed the ground (Cho streaking behind her) and pulled up in a spectacular twist that shocked many. The Slytherins booed as loud as they could, and Ravenclaw groaned and sat down. But the Gryffindors were still jumping around, clapping, and being idiots, as it were.

"And it's now Chambers with the Quaffle, Chambers who has a long-time history with the Ravenclaw team. He's past all the Chasers, dodges a Bludger from Kirke, and… he shoots… and… and… ANOTHER SPECTACULAR SAVE BY WEASLEY!"

Again, the Gryffindors were stamping, clapping, cheering, making as much noise as possible. A few Slytherins tried to get Weasley is our King back up, but lost heart and sat down, looking depressed. Ravenclaw looked mournful. If they couldn't score, would they be able to win? Matt, however, cheered loudly when Angelina put another goal in 3 minutes later, earning him glares from a few of those around him.

"And now it looks as though Kirke is going to try and knock Davies off his broom with a Bludger," shouted Lee, which gave Davies time to duck. However, the Bludger Kirke sent flying not only missed Davies, but it hit Chambers squarely in the face, knocking him unconscious. He flew towards the ground, everyone going silent, before he slowed as he reached the bottom.

"Spectacular Bludger play by Kirke!" roared Lee approvingly. Kirke, they could see, looked half impressed and half mortified by what he'd done. Professors Sprout and Sinistra ran out and magicked Chambers onto a stretcher and carried him out. Davies cornered Madam Hooch.

"THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF FOUL THERE!" he roared in her face. Madam Hooch glared at him and warned him twice to get back in the air. She then gave her whistle three short blasts, each a penalty shot for Gryffindor. Katie made all three, and Gryffindor was ahead 50 to 10.

"And it's Davies and Bradley as the only Chasers left and they seem to be getting into it now!" Lee said.

It was true. Over the next ten minutes, the two Chasers went all-out to get past Ron. Each time, however, he managed to catch or knock it away. The eighth time this happened, however, Ron nearly fell off his broom when Davies feinted left and actually went right.

"And yet another spectacular play by Weasley!" shouted Lee.

Emily, meanwhile, had only been half-watching. The Snitch was eluding her, and Cho was _still_ following her. Then, Emily saw it: the golden ball was flying by the Ravenclaw Beater's ankle. Not sure of his name, Emily plummeted. When he saw her coming, he glanced down and saw the Snitch. At the last moment, he dove in front of it, and Emily slammed into him, nearly falling off her broom. The Snitch, frightened, disappeared.

"FOUL! FOUL! FOUL! FOUL!" the Gryffindors chanted at the top of their lungs. Lee snarled a string of bad words to the Beater, William Frost, and Madam Hooch sharply reprimanded him before awarding Gryffindor another penalty shot, which Alicia promptly placed in the goal.

As Emily flew around again, she spent 10 more minutes relaxing her eyes, looking for the glint of gold off the sun. A cloud had drifted over it, however, darkening the pitch slightly. Still, it was amusing to be able to see the areas where the cloud ended and the light went beyond. Below her, the game was getting more violent.

Gryffindor had managed six more goals, and the score was now 120 – 10. Ron pulled off another great save, but was almost knocked through himself by a Bludger from Frost. The Gryffindor Beaters, especially Kirke, began their own reign of Bludgers, shooting them at anything that moved (although Slosher almost hit Alicia by accident as she shot another goal in, bringing the score to 130 – 10).

Emily dove for no real reason, except to see if Cho was still stalking her. What Emily did know was that she had some strange glitter on her face (probably from Bridget or Prudence when the girls had been doing make-up the night before and Emily's pillow had been used to smear), and Cho seemed to think that was the Snitch. She, too, dove at Emily and, to her amazement, extended her hand towards her face. The slap made Emily see red… and the Snitch, which was just inches from Cho's hand.

"You dumb slut!" Emily roared, turning and diving at her, her own hands extended. Cho screamed and almost fell backwards off her broom, and Emily clasped her hands to the Snitch. Before she could, however, Ron was attacked by Davies' best throw of the season. From the far left hoop, Ron leapt off his broom and grabbed a hold of the Quaffle before it sailed in. He, however, sailed almost to the ground before Slosher broke his fall by catching him at the hem of his robes.

"And Weasley is saved by the Beater… and, WAIT A MINUTE! THE GAME IS OVER! EMILY DAVIS HAS THE SNITCH!"


	13. Chapter 13

A whistle blew somewhere above them. Madam Hooch was flying towards the ground at a high rate of speed. However, everyone heard her clearly shout, "Gryffindor Wins!"

The stadium exploded this time. The flags all switched direction from the great amount of noise the Gryffindors made. They stamped, clapped, screamed, hugged one another, whistled, and made even more noise than before as Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Sinistra walked across the Pitch. Sinistra respectfully shook McGonagall's hand, accepting her house's defeat with grace.

Emily watched the Ravenclaw Team land on the other side of the stadium. Each looked depressed and dejected, but, Emily could see, Cho was in a frenzy. She was sobbing hysterically, stamping the floor, and then chucked her broom at a wall, causing it to bend slightly. She then collapsed on the field, stamping and shaking and beating her fists upon the turf. With a sigh of disgust, Emily turned back to her team.

Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Kirke, Slosher, Ron, and Emily all stood in a group, grins on their faces (and tears in the Chasers' eyes).

"It is my great pleasure," said Dumbledore, proudly, "To award this year's Quidditch Cup to Gryffindor!"

A tremendous amount of applause went up for this. Angelina was handed the cup, which she looked at for a moment, tears sliding down her cheek, before she handed it to Ron, who held it proudly in the air. Suddenly, they were surrounded by a sea of Gold and Maroon (there was Blue and Bronze in there near the back, too). Angelina and Katie picked up Ron and held him in the air as the Gryffindors suddenly broke into song.

"_Weasley is our King!_

_Weasley is our King!_

_He never let the Quaffle in_

_Weasley is our King!_

Emily glanced up to the Slytherins. They were shouting something at them, although Emily noticed Caitlin didn't seem offended that Gryffindor had taken their song and made it their own.

"_Weasley can save anything,_

_He never leaves a single ring._

_That's why Gryffindors all sing:_

_Weasley is our King!_

"_Weasley is our King,_

_Weasley is our King,_

_He never left a single ring,_

_WEASLEY IS OUR KING!_

Ron looked beside himself with glee. He was waving the cup at Harry and Hermione, who, Emily noticed, were way up by the castle already. Matt fought his way over to Emily and congratulated her on an excellent catch and started talking about the game. She half listened and grinned, but she was also looking for Seth, who was no where to be found.

"Can you believe the nerve of them?" Pansy said, vehemently at dinner that night, "Stealing _our_ song?!"

"I know… they obviously aren't creative enough to make their own song," sniffed Josephine haughtily.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't worry about that," Cait said, smirking, "We'll get 'em. Tomorrow. Anyone who sings Weasley is our King, Gryffindor Version, gets detention and 20 points deducted."

"Why wait until tomorrow?" Ashley said as a few Gryffindor First Years walked by, singing.

"Because if we act today, they won't blame Umbridge for it," said Caitlin, smirking herself.

"Good point. Let's go, we all need to study some more," Jo said, warningly, "Exams are a week away, and we haven't got Snape this time…"

The last week of lessons were completely devoted to review. Matt, Emily, and Caitlin each fount it a bit funny that they could remember things from Year 3 that none of their classmates could remember (although Matt had many offers for copies of the review sheet he'd gotten). Professor Binns spent his double period answering any questions had by the students (in other words… Hermione asked questions and everyone wrote down the answers). Snape set them to work on a series of small, easy Potions, and collected and graded their last homework assignments. After lunch, Firenze gave them a study hall while he stared, transfixed, at the ceiling, his face worried.

Tuesday's Charms class was spent reviewing some of their more recent and difficult Charms. When he handed their last marks for the year back, Matt saw he had gotten an E on his essay, Caitlin, as usual, got an O, and Emily got an A. In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall drilled them in various transfiguring spells, trying to see he could do the most spells rapidly and accurately (Hermione and Matt were the only two who could do over 20 without messing up; Emily had 12 and Caitlin had 8). Hagrid also did a large review lesson for things he felt would come up on the test, and took questions (Caitlin had a few this time, all of which Hagrid answered fully). In Herbology, Professor Sprout spent her lesson handing back all the work she'd been keeping, and also went through a small, though boring, review game.

Wednesday got interesting. When everyone realized there was just five days to study left, they went insane. Some would be sleeping in class, studying at night, eating whenever possible. Others would challenge each other in studying contests (Ravenclaws, mainly). Others sold things on the black market (none of which interested the Americans), and still others tried to psyche each other out.

"How much did you study?!" Ernie MacMillan demanded to Matt, Emily, and Lisa during their Charms class Monday.

"Uh…" Matt blinked, "Well… about two hours or so a day I guess."

"And you?" he looked at Lisa.

"Same, I guess. Maybe a bit more," Lisa shrugged.

"And you?!" Ernie said, staring at Emily in such ferocity that he seemed utterly mad.

"… Perhaps 45 minutes?" Emily shrugged, looking concerned for Ernie.

"Eight a day for me," Ernie said, puffing his chest out again.

"… congratulations?" Emily said, blinking.

"Saturday and Sunday both had ten, Monday I did nine, but I slacked off Tuesday and only did seven and a half… and I'm up to three and a half hours today so far…"

Just then, Blaine and Melody walked by, chatting, and Ernie ran off to assault them.

"And here I was thinking it would be the Ravenclaws to lose their minds with studying," Emily said, staring after Ernie.

"Nope, we're used to studying large amounts," Lisa replied as Ernie cornered the two other Ravenclaws, both looking terrified.

Flitwick gave them a small quiz with things that have come up on past O.W.L.s, and, as usual, Caitlin got top marks, while Matt and Emily got Average marks. In History of Magic, everyone did the Hermione-Question-Binns-Answer-Write-Down-Answer game again, which was pretty helpful because an hour and a half of it gave them all twelve parchments of notes. Transfiguration was basically the same, although Professor McGonagall handed back their past three homework assignments and a quiz. Matt, as usual, received O's on all four. Emily got three A's and an E on one of the homework papers, and Caitlin averaged an A on all four. Potions was spent with Snape reviewing a list of fifty potions that might come up on the test (although the Slytherins later had it narrowed down to twenty). And, once again, Professor Sprout gave them a review lesson on all sorts of aquatic plants and their attributes. That night, nearly a quarter of the class had missed Astronomy due to fatigue brought on by studying. Matt, however, felt the most calm he'd felt all week when he looked at all the brilliant stars and lights of galaxies far away…

Thursday came and went in a flurry of review questions and studying. Charms started their day out once again with Flitwick doing one-on-one studies with each student in turn. Herbology was spent with a hands-on quiz involving Mandrakes, Puffapods, and various other more dangerous plants. Professor Umbridge glared at her class as, once again, everyone fled it via Snack boxes for their Common Rooms for more studying. Divination was spent with Firenze, once again staring at the sky but answering the many questions the students had for him. Unfortunately, he didn't clear up a single question and everyone walked away more confused than ever.

Friday was the last day of lessons before the exams. In Divination, Firenze vainly tried to explain the difference between Centaur Divination and Human Divination, and, once again, only increased the confusion. In History of Magic, Binns gave them all the papers he'd had hidden in his desk and they got their last marks. There was only a ten minute Question-Answer session this time, in which a few other Ravenclaws asked questions, too. They got the times for their examinations in Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall answered questions about the exam itself.

"As you can see," said Professor McGonagall when they were finished coping it down, "your O.W.L.s are spread over the next two successive weeks. You will sit the theory exams in the mornings and the practical exams in the afternoon. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night."

Everyone nodded, waiting for her next string of instructions.

"Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examination Authority's rules. I can only hope that this is nobody in Gryffindor…" she seemed to say the last bit without thinking, causing the other houses to exchange looks.

"Our new… _headmistress_…" she said, with a disgusted look on her face, "has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely – because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress' new regime at the school…"

"To get good grades… or make Umbridge look bad… that is a difficult choice," Matt muttered.

"However, this is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about," Professor McGonagall added.

"Damn, why do I have to have a future?!" Emily said sarcastically, causing more than just one person to snicker slightly.

"Please, Professor," Hermione said, her hand shooting into the air, "when will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you some time in July," Professor McGonagall responded.

"Excellent, so we don't have to worry about it 'till the holidays," Dean Thomas whispered loudly.

After a quick lunch, they reported to their final afternoon of lessons. Hagrid again gave them tips on things normally on the exam, Umbridge made them do more reading (with another warning of good grades or else), and Snape set them to work on one last difficult Potion. When they left the dungeons at four, the Americans went to their respective dorms to study before dinner.

Emily realized for the first time on Saturday morning that she had barely even talked to Seth in the past few days, having spent more time with Matt, Lisa, Luna, and Ginny. When she tried to talk to him, he usually shunned her or ignored her. It was very concerning to her, especially after another owl arrived for him Friday evening. His face clouded again and he ate silently. Emily frowned.

"Seth? What is it?" she asked for the hundredth time.

There was no response at first, and then Seth finally asked, bluntly, "You would never join the Dark Side, would you?"

Shocked, Emily said, mouth open wide, "Never!"

"Good," Seth replied gruffly before leaving the Great Hall. Emily watched him go with a mixture of fear and suspicion.

Matt, meanwhile, was studying harder than he'd ever studied in his life. It took him all of Saturday to get through the notes (skimming, mind you) that the teachers had provided for him and the ones he'd taken during the year. His strategy was to see what he knew and mark down what he didn't, review it, remember it, and go through again. By the end of the day, he knew about 3/5 of the overall material, although he had severe trouble with Herbology, Potions, and Charms. The plants looked too similar for Herbology, memorizing an average of 15 ingredients for nearly 80 Potions was no easy task, and he kept mixing up incantations for some of the Charms. However, he was pleased to be able to know almost all the Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, and Astronomy information (though, arguably, he did have a bigger advantage with those review sheets).

Knowing it would be imperative for him to get as many O.W.L.s as possible, he studied extra hard in his problem areas on Sunday, especially in Charms, and was soon able to think of some rhymes to keep some of the incantations straight in his mind. After thinking about it for nearly 15 minutes, Matt ended his studying of Herbology. It was not something that interested him, and he would be happy to give it up. As for Potions, he could only 100 identify 10 Potions, and only around 75 of 13 others. The rest were almost completely hopeless.

Emily spent three hours Saturday evening with Hermione, Ron, and Harry, studying Potions. Only Emily and Hermione were really focusing on it, Harry and Ron seemed to get sick of memorizing Potion ingredients after the first couple of minutes. When they were satisfied that they'd remembered more than they had before, they moved on to Charms, Transfiguration, and Herbology. Emily paid attention to those classes that would help her in the future, disregarding History of Magic and Divination completely. When the other three went their separate ways for their own private studying, Emily tried, and failed, to find Seth. Dean and Seamus said they hadn't seen him since breakfast.

But what really bothered Emily was the last question he'd asked her. The way he asked it… it was as though… but that couldn't be right. There was no way Seth would ever be on the Dark Side…

Caitlin was furiously reading up on Charms, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures. These were the three main courses she needed to get into Unicorn Taming. Her friends were all studying the minimum needed, but it was still hours for them all. Jo, Malfoy, and Cait would spend most of their time with the slightly evil American as they went over review questions, studied up on Potion Ingredients, and identified the proper parts of magical animals.

Still, Caitlin had one minor thought nagging her. What would happen when everyone found out she was a Mudblood? The fact that she was even thinking about it shocked her more than anything as she'd formerly convinced herself that she was, indeed, a pure-blooded witch. Then she looked at the Wiggenweld Potion's ingredients and her mind became so full of information that she couldn't be bothered to think of it.

Almost all the fifth years spent Sunday studying for their first couple of exams: Charms, Transfiguration, and Herbology. When dinner rolled around, many suffered from migraines and hunger pangs, and many ate more than they'd eaten all week. Suddenly, a few people gasped and their utensils fell out of their hands. At the doorway, they could see about half-a-dozen elderly witches and wizards, all of whom were grouped around Professor Umbridge. Some students left to walk by the group to see what they were saying. Others, like Hermione, seemed utterly terrified. And still others gave them no more than a passing glance before returning to their meals.

The night was packed with even more studying. The smart ones went to bed early (though many had a hard time sleeping). The not-so-smart ones tried to study until they fell asleep. No matter what a person did, however, they all thought the morning came to quickly and suddenly it was the day of the exams, and it was time to see if they'd done enough studying and whether their future plans would be born or destroyed.

After a hasty lunch, Matt, Emily, and Lisa bade Luna and Rachel good-bye before sitting in a corner near the hourglasses and quizzing each other on Charms. Lisa did exceptionally well for how much she studied, Matt did okay, and Emily did enough to pass (or so she hoped). On the other side of the hall, Caitlin was firing questions between her friends while answering anything they threw at her. By the time they were allowed back into the room, the tables had disappeared and all that remained were about a hundred smaller desks, each with a quill, ink well, and a few pieces of parchment on them.

They weren't specifically assigned seats, so Matt, Lisa, and Emily sat three rows back in the middle, Caitlin, Jo, Malfoy, and Cait took seats in the back right corner, and everyone else sat near their friends (or those smarter than them). Professor McGonagall was surveying everyone as the room silenced. She cleared her throat and said, "You may begin." As she did, she turned over the hourglass that allotted their time.

Matt glanced down the front of the paper. The first three were simple: 1.a) Wingardium Leviosa, B) A Swish and a wrist flick; 2.a) Lumos b) Lumos Harlen c) Lumos Solarum; 3) The Summoning Charm was supposedly thought to have been created when a wizard in Liverpool was trying to find his best sheep. However, question four was a stumper: _4.a) Give the three types of color changing charms and b) Explain the differences in effects and wand movements required._ With a frown, he searched his brain for the notes that he'd read earlier in the day.

At the seat next to him, Emily was just skipping any questions that required more than ten seconds worth of though. Hence, she made it to question 20 when Matt was still on question 5. It read: _Cheering Charms are, as their name suggests, charms that make a person more happy. a) Give the wand movements required to effectively cast it, b) Explain how the Charm came about (who discovered it and why), c) Explain what can happen when the Charm is over-done, and d) List examples of how the Charms can be used in hospitals, schools and everyday life_.

"Geeze, don't want much for that one, do they?" Emily muttered to herself as she began to write the rather long answer.

Caitlin was eating up this quiz with no problem at all. Her answers were quick, to-the-point, but still detailed enough to give the exact answer to the question. In fact, as she moved to the second sheet of parchment, she glanced over and saw Jo was only on problem 13. Malfoy was on 17, and Cait was only beginning to answer 7. With a slight smirk, she returned to 37. The only question that gave her trouble was number 23: _You want to re-order some teacups, saucers, teapots, and spoons with one Charm. The items above are in three colors: Red, Blue, and Silver. You want to have all the reds on the top shelf, the blues on the middle, and silver on the bottom. Name the one Charm that will allow you to make them go in that order and in the places provided._

"Hmm… that's strange. I don't think we've ever heard of a Charm to do that. It sounds like a mixture of Wingardium Leviosa, Color-Ordering, and Sorting. Is there a Charm like that?" Caitlin muttered to herself. Unable to think of one, she wrote an answer involving what she had written above, hoping she was right.

The test went on for nearly three hours. There were close to seventy total questions and, by the time the test was almost done, Caitlin had all hers answered and was re-checking her work, Matt was within five questions of the end, and Emily had answered about four-fifths of the test paper. As Professor McGonagall informed them of the five-minute warning, everyone finished up their answers, wrote something down for the ones they had left blank, and re-checked part of their work.

"Quills down, the examination is over," said Professor McGonagall as the sand had just run out. Everyone seemed to breath a sigh of relief, and set down their quills and rolled up their exam papers, leaving the answer sheets to be collected. Many were nursing their hands from writer's cramp, and nearly everyone was fanning themselves as it was very hot.

"That wasn't as bad as I expected," Matt said, happily, "I think I only had trouble on… twelve of the problems."

"I skipped 9, 18, 23, 24, 35, 39, 47, and 55," Emily said, shrugging.

"55?" Matt said, looking surprised, "That was the question of the Protean Charm, remember? The one Hermione used on the Galleons for the D. A.

"Oh," said Emily indifferently, "I couldn't remember the name."

"I'm sure I did alright," Lisa said, fairly, "I wrote down an answer for everything."

"I'm not too worried about the practical," Matt said as they left the Great Hall so the lunch could be prepared.

"That was easy," Caitlin said, brushing her hair back out of her face as she left the Great Hall with Malfoy and the others.

"Except for 23, 28, 29, and 30," Jo sighed, "I couldn't think of anything."

"That's all? I didn't answer about a third of the test," Cait said, angrily, "That was fricken hard!"

"Well, you didn't study Charms as much. You'll do better on your other exams," said Caitlin.

"I better. Mom'll be pissed if I get chucked out," said Cait.

After yet another quick meal, the fifth years walked to the small chamber off the side of the Great Hall. It was cramped inside and you had to take care not to step on anyone's foot. After ten minutes, the doors opened and Professor Flitwick walked in.

"Hannah Abbott, Brittany Baker, Susan Bones, Terry Boot, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lavender Brown, Millicent Bulstrode, Blaine Carlson," he said, beckoning the students forward. All eight followed him into the next chamber and the door shut while each took their practical.

"Damn, that means I'm gonna have to go next," muttered Emily.

"Better get ready," Matt said, practicing some of the spells he could remember with Lisa, making her beret sail above everyone else.

"I'm as ready as I'm getting," Emily said.

Ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick returned. He called out only four names this time: Dakota Casper, Vincent Crabbe, Emily Davis, and Seamus Finnigan."

Emily bade her friends farewell and headed forward with the other three guys. The Great Hall this time had eight separate tables, examiners on one side, various objects on the table, and students standing on the other side. From what she could see, only Hannah, Susan Terry, Lavender, and Millicent were still testing (Hannah was very nervous and kept messing up her incantations). Emily waited for Flitwick to tell her what to do and she was soon pointed into the direction of a wizard with a rather large wart on his nose. It repulsed Emily, but she walked forward and greeted him nicely all the same.

"Miss… Emily Davis?" he asked, looking at her. He had a gruff voice, like he needed to clear it a little bit, "Well, then. Can you do a few things to this goblet, then?"

"I can try," Emily shrugged.

"Right, then," said the man, shuffling a paper and taking out a quill, "First, change the color from Gold to Brown.

"Okay," Emily said, blinking. _What was the incantation again? It was one of Matt's stupid rhymes… "CCC How pretty it can be…" Ah! That's it!_

"Colour Coli Cultrum!" Emily said clearly, waving her wand in a small circle with a down thrust, focusing on the color brown in her mind. The goblet didn't turn all the way brown and there were still a few spots of gold left. Enough for an A, probably.

"Not too bad. Now, please make it float a few feet into the air, if you will?" the man replied.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Emily said at once, making it float three feet above them.

"Bravo!" the man replied, happy that she'd done something well, "Now, then, use the Charm that allows it to soar, by itself, to that table over there."

"Uh…" Emily thought again. But no snappy, stupid rhymes came to mind, "Sorry… I can't do that."

"Very well," the man said, taking the floating cup and walking it over to the other table, "Now, Summon it to you, please."

"Accio Goblet!" Emily said, loudly. The Goblet flew off the desk… but didn't keep its altitude and slammed into the desk in front of Emily.

"Hmm. Now, finally, please take this jug of pumpkin juice," he set it on the table, "And make a stream to float into the goblet without moving the jug."

"Okay," Emily said, trying to remember how to make it float in that way. When nothing came to her, she took a guess.

"Profusio," Emily said, her wand pointed at the jug. It sort-of worked, a stream of juice flowed out, but it only spilled over the side because it wasn't powerful enough to make it to the goblet.

"Very good, you may go, Emily," the man said, marking down a few more notes.

"Right," Emily said, walking out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall to wait for Matt and Lisa.

The two Ravenclaws were still inside the antechamber, practicing various spells on Lisa's handy beret. While they waited, the groups of Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hermione Granger, Gregory Goyle, and Ashley Gowin; Daphne Greengrass, Jack Hacker, Shailagh Hacker, and Jo Hammet, and Neville Longbottom, Ernie MacMillan, Draco Malfoy and Mateo Martine were called.

"Good luck, sweetie," Caitlin said fondly as she gave Malfoy a light kiss before he went off to do his exam. Jo had gone in the group previous.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll try and wait for you," he said, caressing her before leaving.

About five minutes later, the next group was called: Mateo Martine, Jose Martine, Seth McGuire, and Melody Moon. Caitlin sat against the wall and went over all the Charms she could think of in her head while trying to imagine the wand movements, too. On the other side of the room, Matt and Lisa were questioning a few of the recent name groups.

"Shailagh and Jack Hacker? They have to be siblings," Matt muttered as he made Lisa's hat turn from yellow to brown again.

"And there's two Mateo Martines, plus a Jose. Strange," Lisa added.

"The Mateo I met is a jerk. I never thought Hufflepuffs were that… evil," Matt said, shrugging.

"I know a couple and they're not bad," Lisa added.

Professor Flitwick had reappeared. "Caitlin Murphy, Theodore Nott, Bridgette O'Reily, Pansy Parkinson."

Caitlin walked forward with the other Slytherins, making sure to keep well away from Bridgette. When they entered the hall, however, they saw it was backed up. Apparently, Justin Finch-Fletchley and one of the Mateo's had cast the spells on the wrong objects and had made both mutate into large watermelons that just kept growing. Once the giant fruits were taken to the kitchens for the house elves to use, the exams resumed. Caitlin waited with Malfoy while a few others were tested. Finally, it was their turn, just as the next group (Sally-Anne Perks, Padama Patil, Parvati Patil, and Harry Potter) arrived. Caitlin had gotten possibly the youngest witch there (she didn't look more than 70 and still had some brown streaks in her grey hair).

"Your name, dear?" the witch asked, kindly.

"Caitlin Murphy," responded Caitlin.

"Ah! An American witch. Let's see if you live up to your country's reputation," she said, "First, make this spoon do some gymnastics, please?"

"You got it," said Caitlin, whipping out her wand. She started with a few back flips, "Tergumus!"

The spoon leapt to the handle part and did a spectacular back flip, landing right where it had before. Caitlin then proceeded to have it do three cartwheels, a half-twist, and a head-spring.

"Most impressive," the witch said, "Now, using that same spoon, please change it to a red handle with a blue head.

"Coloures Colis Cultrums!" Caitlin said, flourishing her wand and trying to clearly picture the red and blue on the spoon. It went over very well, with just a small purple spot where the two colors met.

"Wonderful, darling. Now, if you would, use the spoon to scoop some sugar into this bowl.

"Right," Caitlin said, racking her brain, "I'll start with… Wingardium Leviosa! The spoon flew up and Caitlin carefully maneuvered it with he wand. It only took about 30 seconds to have the entire bowl filled, and the witch looked very closely to see if she's spilled any sugar. With none to be found, she moved on.

"Now, please put the spoon into the silverware box on that table over there," the witch said, indicating a box on a table about ten feet away."

"Okay," Caitlin said, deciding on using the Banishing Charm, "Explusium!"

The spoon flew off the table, soared to the table, and landed squarely in the box. She had missed stacking it neatly with the others by a fraction of an inch, but it was still enough to make the witch smile.

"Very good. Now, if you will, clean all the silverware from here with one charm," the witch said.

"Scourgify!" Caitlin said, pointing her wand over to the table. The spoons were quickly cleaned off. The witch walked over, examined them, and nodded her approval.

"That's enough, then. You may go," she said, extending her hand.

"Thank you," Caitlin said, shaking it. As she turned to watch Malfoy, the wine glass he was levitating suddenly fell. He looked furious, so Caitlin walked away, past Harry as he began to enlarge a rat instead of turning it orange.

Back in the antechamber, the crowd had thinned out considerably. When the next group left (Caitlin Raub, Gertrude Shaw, Lillian Sicily, and Dean Thomas), there were only five left: Matt, Lisa, Ron Weasley, Josephine Vincent, and Blaise Zabini. Flitwick returned about ten minutes later and said, "Lisa Turpin, Matthew Warren, Ronald Weasley, Josephine Vincent, Blaise Zabini."

The rest of the fifth years walked out and went to their assigned witches and wizards. After wishing her good luck, Matt took the table next to Lisa, where he met Professor Marchbanks, the elderly lady who seemed somewhat death.

"Warren, right?" she said rather loudly.

"Yes," Matt said, nodding.

"Right then, if you would please show me your charming ability on this quill…" Professor Marchbanks said, "First, I don't like the color. Make it blue."

"Right," Matt said, and, using the color change spell, he said, "Colour Coli Cultrum!" The quill turned a beautiful sea-blue, and Professor Marchbanks made a note.

"Good. Now, I'm standing on a ladder thirty feet in the air and I don't want to climb down and get my quill. Get it up to me.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Matt commanded, sending the quill skyward. However, he got distracted by Ron Weasley when he turned a dinner plate in to a large mushroom and his quill flew to the ground and embedded itself into the desk. Professor Marchbanks frowned and wrote a note on her little parchment chunk.

"Hmm…" she examined the quill, and then, with strange ferocity, slammed a rather large book on it, making everyone jump, "Whoops. Broke it. Fix it."

"Uh… okay…" Matt said, gulping. He wasn't sure he was saying this right… "Repairo!"

The quill sort-of flew back together, but it was by no means completely fixed. Then, Matt remembered there was no "i" in the spell, it was just _Reparo_. When Professor Marchbanks picked up the quill, it cracked down the middle.

"We need Spell-o-Tape. There's some over, there, get it for me without moving," she said, pointing to a table some ten feet away.

"Accio Spell-o-Tape!" Matt commanded, and the Spell-O-Tape flew to him, landing on the desk edge, just barely staying on.

"Good, good. Now, finally, write your name with it using your wand," Marchbanks commanded.

"Uh… okay…" Matt said, "Wing—"

"Using a spell you haven't used yet," said Professor Marchbanks.

"Uh…" Matt muttered, "Um… uh…"

He thought. What spell could he use to do this with? Perhaps… if he could just… well, no that, won't work. Was there a spell to do that?

"I'm sorry… I don't know one," said Matt, frowning.

"What? Speak up, I couldn't hear you," Marchbanks said.

Matt suddenly had an idea, "I got it! Scriptoris!"

The quill quivered to life, and Matt drew his wand in the air, trying to get the quill to mimic it. It didn't work well, however, and his name looked more like Notllau Weirev instead of Matthew Warren. With another shrug, Professor Marchbanks informed him he could leave and he walked out to meet up with Matt and Lisa.

"How'd you guys do?" asked Matt, still a little sad at his poor performance in the last spell.

"Not bad. Couldn't do one of the things he asked me, but otherwise did okay," Emily said.

"I had some guy with a large wart on his nose. I didn't do as well as I thought I could have… I know I should have been able to make the colors change by themselves, but I forgot the spell," Lisa said.

"I didn't have to do that," Matt said, blinking.

"They must have different forms of the test. Some might be a bit harder than others."

"Yeah, I suppose," Matt said, "Let's go, we have time to study before dinner."

Meanwhile, the Slytherins were relaying their own experiences.

"If it wasn't for Potter, I'd have gotten full marks," said Malfoy, angrily.

"Yeah, and that Mudblood, Granger… she did three spells in quick succession, which caused bright lights that the lights blinded me, and I missed my target and summoned a chair!" Ashley snarled.

"I'm sure I did okay," Jo said, "I was able to do all the spells I was supposed to… perhaps not as good as I could have, but still…"

"What about you, Murphy?" Millicent asked as she looked over some Transfiguration notes.

"Hmm? I think I did okay," Caitlin said modestly.

"Okay? Yeah, right! You probably got an O! You didn't screw up once and did all your spells perfect!" exclaimed Pansy. Caitlin smirked, knowing this was the only exam she would possibly get an Outstanding on.

"I'm hungry," Goyle whined.

"Me too. Let's eat dinner," Crabbe added.

"Honestly. But then we've gotta study for Transfiguration!" Malfoy groaned loudly, as they all headed for the Great Hall.

There was yet another restless night and almost everyone had trouble sleeping. Transfiguration spells required very complex casting components and your mind had to be clear enough to picture what you were supposed to picture. But the definitions, everyone knew, would be their downfall.

The theory exam in the morning was extremely difficult for many, although Matt thought he did rather well. The only question he had a lot of difficulty on was question number 41: _If you transfigure an inanimate object into a an mammal, but then the animal starts laying eggs, a) Explain what part of the spell went wrong and b) State the correct spell to rectify the mistake WITHOUT changing it back and starting over again_.

Emily found most of the questions to be rather difficult. She knew she was probably not going to get into the N.E.W.T. class with her answers, but she made an effort to fill in almost all the question spaces with answers. She also drew pictures when she couldn't figure out how to put something into words, and while McGonagall would've flipped a bitch about it, perhaps the Wizarding Examination Authority wouldn't be as horrible about it.

Caitlin knew that she was going to have trouble with the theory. She left nearly every single definition blank, except for the ones that were glaringly obvious. And, like Emily, she tried to draw pictures in spots where she was unsure of the actual word answer. Overall, she expected nothing more than an A, and possibly even a P.

That afternoon, they had their practical. This time, however, they were not called in alphabetical order, rather in a very random order. For example, the first eight to go out this time were Matt, Harry Potter, Hannah Abbott, Daphne Greengrass, Jose Martine, Josephine Vincent, Brittany Baker, and Terry Boot. This time, Matt got a wizard with a beard reaching to his feet, much like that of Dumbledore's.

"Mr. Warren… I have a series of Transfiguration Tests for you to complete," said the man, removing three items from below the desk, "First, this Niffler. Please Vanish it for me."

"Okay. _Evanesco!_" Matt said, pointing to the niffler. It turned its large snout up to him before it vanished in a puff of air.

"Very good. Bring it back," said the man, writing a note down on his paper.

"Proderius!" Matt said, trying to visualize the niffler he'd just made disappear. It returned on the desk… and then promptly tried to tear Matt's watch off his wrist.

"Oh my!" the man said, reaching forward to get the niffler, "Such a playful little thing."

Suddenly, there was a loud bang and everyone turned to Hannah Abbott's table. Apparently, she'd turned a ferret into a large flock of flamingos, which ran this way and that, trying to find ways out. Some attempted to take off, only to smash into a wall or something else that was immovable. One darted straight at Matt, who ducked under the table and held on.

Emily, who had just been called in with Gertrude, Bridgette, and Ron, was also attacked by a bird. She, however, clamped its mouth shut and leapt onto its back… but the rather large flamingo and was taken half way along the hall before she finally leapt off (the flamingo dashing into a wall).

It took over 15 minutes for the flamingos to be rounded up and testing resumed (poor Hannah was too distressed to continue). When they did manage to get things back to normal, Matt was then told to turn a tortoise into a teacup and then change a mouse to a small poodle and, finally, a class bowl to a crystal. He managed to do all three with no further incident.

Emily, however, had a bit of trouble when she was told to vanish a chipmunk. She managed to vanish it… but…

"Okay, now please return it to normal," the wizard with the boil said (she'd gotten him again).

"Uh… um…" Emily thought for a moment. Nothing came to her, "I can't." she said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I see," said the wizard, brow furrowing as he wrote down a note.

Her others weren't perfect either: the rabbit she tried to turn into a pillow still had a twitchy nose, the gerbil to kitten transformation didn't work either (it looked more like a cross between a chipmunk and a porcupine, complete with spines), and when she tried to turn a silver goblet into a gold one, it just melted. Without caring too much about it, she left the room without a backward glance.

Caitlin was one of the last to be called. Her instructor was the pleasant witch with brown streaks in her hair. Caitlin vanished her hawk pretty well (a dozen feathers remained) and when it reappeared, it had many more missing; her transfiguring of animal to inanimate object went wrong and the piglet that was supposed to be a foot-stool turned instead into a steak; her cross-species spell worked relatively well and the groundhog was successfully changed into a Chihuahua; and the inanimate object switch worked… well… not too good, either. She mixed up a letter in the incantation and caused the crock-pot to turn into a porcelain toilet instead of the porcelain doll she was aiming for. Since it was made out of the same material, however, she got partial credit.

The night was spent with yet another furious round of studying. Well… for most people at least. Matt barely studied more than looking over his notes and Emily and Caitlin did minimal studying time for their Herbology the next day. Right after breakfast, they had their theory test. It consisted of 30 questions, two extended essays, and six diagrams. It was a shock to many because Sprout's test and exams had been rather easy compared to this.

Matt could not label two of the diagrams to any reasonable extent, and his essays were extremely poor. He knew, against his own will, quite a few more questions than he would've liked, but didn't really answer them to his full potential due to a great apathy he'd developed for Herbology recently. Emily did enough to get an A (or so she though) so she could get in to the N.E.W.T. class to learn what to feed certain animals. Caitlin also did the best she could for the same reason.

The practical went okay for some, horrible for others. Emily managed to successfully repot a mandrake, feed a Fanged Geranium without getting a bite, care for a Puffapod without making it explode, and teach a new Self-Pruning Shrub to prune itself. Matt's Self-Pruning Shrub decided it was going to prune Millicent's hair instead and she tried throw a Venomous Tentacula at Matt when she realized she had gotten a haircut. Thankfully, Professor Tofty was there in a flash to catch the Venomous Tentacula, just in time to stop it from landing on Daphne Greengrass' Puffapod. But, he was not only bitten by a Toothing Rose, his Puffapod blew up when he tried to clean between it's little flower-things. Caitlin managed to repot the Mandrake and care for the Puffapod, but the Fanged Geranium that caused so many problems for everyone nearly ate her left ring finger and she chucked it through the window, shattering the class and causing many to jump.

On Thursday, they had Defense Against the Dark Arts. Anyone who was in the D. A. had made a silent vow to do their best to get an O on the exam. Matt and Emily found many of the questions on the morning theory easy, flying through them at a high rate of speed. Caitlin knew a few of the Dark Arts themselves and could give detailed answers for a couple… but her Defense knowledge left a bit to be desired. In the end, Matt was sure he'd at least gotten an E on that section and Emily was confident this would be her best.

The afternoon Practical was, in Matt's opinion, spectacular. There were a series of tests involving warding of Hinky-Pucks, Red Caps, and other Dark creatures. They also had to try and figure out which of three boxes was cursed, what the curse was, and the correct spell to deal with it. (Matt and Emily chose the right box, but Caitlin chose the wrong box and accidentally turned it dark, too). Finally, they had to show how to conquer a boggart. Both the girls did well, but Matt freaked out when one of the bees in the giant swarm came after him and it took him about five minutes to summon up the courage to cast the spell (the swarm turned into a T. V. with a lady saying bees had become extinct).

However, Harry Potter suddenly shot a Patronus around the room, to the amazement of a few of the examiners. Matt and Emily both said, "I can do that…" and, before their examiners asked them to, they set off their own Patronouses. The hummingbird and horse chased each other around the Great Hall before disappearing. Their examiners gave them extra points, but Professor Umbridge took ten from each house for disrupting the exam.

"What were you thinking of when you tried to cast?" asked Emily.

"Umbridge being kicked out. You?" Matt replied.

"Umbridge being kicked in the face and fed to a box of starving scorpions," Emily said, savagely.

Friday's exams were Muggle Studies in the morning and Ancient Runes in the afternoon. That meant all the Americans and their friends had off and enjoyed a free day of no studying and no exams.

Matt and Lisa had decided also not to play DDR and spend most of the day outside, playing a mass game of Freeze Tag with a special glove that really froze a person when one was tagged. Emily didn't really feel like playing at first, but Matt finally participated to join her. She was it, however, and basically took down anyone she wanted to, and, at one point, froze 5 Third Years in a span of three seconds. Caitlin and the other Slytherins took break from their Inquisitorial Squad duties and left the reading of mail to the younger ones while the Fifth years took a walk around outside the lake. They even forgot to be horrible to some Hufflepuffs because all were fatigued from exams.

That evening, Matt was returning from dinner when he rounded a corner and slammed straight into Caitlin, who was heading for the Great Hall. Both fell to the ground, dropping their books.

"Sorry," Matt said, stooping to get his notebooks and parchment.

"Watch it," Caitlin said, also getting her stuff.

"Oh, hey!' Matt said, smiling, "How are you?"

"Er… fine…" Caitlin said, wondering why Matt was being so civil towards her.

"It's been a while since we last talked. How have your exams gone?" Matt asked, turning to walk with her.

"I guess okay… you?" Caitlin said, still slightly bemused.

"I'm sure I did fine on Transfiguration, though I'm worried about Herbology. Well… sort of. I don't care if I never study it again," Matt shrugged.

"Ah… I see… well, I must go, Draco is waiting for me," Caitlin said.

"Okay. Good luck on your exams," Matt said, waving as he headed for the Common Room.

"Yeah, you too," Caitlin replied, still shocked at his civility towards her.

Meanwhile, Emily was walking along the corridor on the fifth floor and turned, nearly running into the giant swamp. She'd forgotten about it.

"Damn… now I have to go past Umbridge's office," sighed Emily, turning and heading down a staircase before emerging from behind a tapestry. She nearly collided with Hermione, who looked furious. Staring after her with a mixture of concern and annoyance, Emily continued on her walk towards the Great Hall, but a scream met her ears.

"IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF THEM! FILCH! FILCH! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Umbridge… thought Emily sadly, as a small, furry, black object streaked past her legs, clutching something shiny. Another Niffler.

"Well… it looks like our dear Headmistress has been attacked by another Niffler," Emily said, smiling evilly.

"FILCH! WHERE ARE YOU!? BRING A BANDAGE, TOO, THE STUPID CREATURE TRIED TO AMPUTATE MY LEG!"

"Dear me, she doesn't sound happy," Emily said, smirking.

"No, she doesn't," said a furious voice behind her. Hermione was back.

"Well, she needed that to happen," Emily said, shrugging, "Pity it didn't succeed."

"No, that's _not_ what we needed to have happen," snapped Hermione, taking Emily back, "She thinks it's Hagrid doing this and we don't want Hagrid in trouble!"

"Doesn't he have a class right now?" Emily said, frowning.

"She'll think he put it in there before," Hermione said, "Honestly! Use your brain, Emily!"

She stalked away, clearly annoyed. She must've done bad on an exam… Emily thought, probably mistranslated a Rune or something.

Everyone studied hard for their Potions exam that weekend. Those who wanted to make N.E.W.T., such as Emily and Caitlin, barely ate and slept. Those who wanted to pass, such as Matt, didn't eat or sleep at all. By Monday morning, everyone was mentally quizzing themselves on ways to make Potions and the effects of certain Antidotes on certain Poisons.

Emily knew she had done well on the written exam. She had filled in an answer for everything, and even done more than was required on the extended essay at the end. Caitlin only left six answers blank and did tried to make her essay as good as possible. Matt, to his shock, also was able to answer nearly all the questions. Not only that, but there was a section where you match Potions to Antidotes, and he was almost positive he had gotten many, if not all, correct.

The practical was, likewise, much easier than many had expected. As usual, Emily's was exactly as it should have turned out, Caitlin's looked about 93 right, and Matt's was also near perfect. The only explanation anyone could find was that Snape had caused so much fear in the hearts of everyone that his absence made life a lot easier. Matt agreed completely with that and thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he could get into the N.E.W.T. Potions class…

On Tuesday, Care of Magical Creatures was the exam both Caitlin and Emily had been looking forward to. The written was pretty easy, mainly labeling diagrams, giving attributes about certain animals, and distinguishing between predators and prey, and various foods.

The practical took place right after lunch. Matt had been running late and ran down just as his name was called, clutching a goblet of milk he hadn't managed to drink.

"Sorry!" he gasped, skidding to a halt just in front of Professor Tofty, who was to examine him.

"Quite alright, quite alright, just do your best now," he said absently, digging for some papers, "First, I have fifteen hedgehogs here and one knarl. Please choose which one is the knarl."

"Er… okay," Matt said, setting the goblet down next to the box. Many of the hedgehogs looked curiously at it, but one glared at it, froze, and started freaking out. It ran in circles, screamed, and went into a seizure of some kind.

"… that one," Matt said, pointing.

"Correct," said Professor Tofty.

Emily had seen this and had an idea. She cupped some water in her hands from a mud puddle and tried to feed each in turn. One of them also went berserk and she decided he was the one. Caitlin had watched from afar and did the same thing, also getting full marks.


	14. Chapter 14

Matt didn't handle his bowtruckle right, however, and received about six large gashes from it when he squeezed too hard. Emily and Caitlin both handled theirs correctly, even when Emily's decided it wanted to gouge out the eyes of Professor Marchbanks. When they had to choose from the diet, Matt chose the wrong type of grass, which would have given the unicorn a large rash on its horn. Caitlin and Emily, however, got it 100 correct and even got extra points when they picked a certain herb the animals liked, too.

Wednesday's exams were Astronomy Theory, Divination Practical, and Astronomy Practical at eleven. On the morning test, Matt was quick to answer questions about different legends pertaining to the constellations, list which moons went with which planets, and which stars could be seen with the naked eye. Emily was not sure she'd remembered all of Jupiter and Saturn's moons, and had a strange feeling Helix didn't exist at all. Caitlin did her best, but she forgot the legends of the constellation of Orion, Ursa Major, and the Seven Sisters.

Divination was a different story entirely. Caitlin was among the first to be called (along with Shailagh Hacker, Lavender Brown, Lillian Sicily, Mandy Brocklehurst, Dakota Casper, Jose Martine, and Terry Boot). She gave up on the tea-leaf reading, saying the man in front of her (with large amounts of hair growing out of his ears) that he was probably going to choke on a large amount butter, didn't bother with the palm lines, and finally got so annoyed with the crystal ball that she just walked out.

Emily made up a story about the tea leaves, saying Professor Marchbanks was going to be trodden on by a large, fanged platypus, read a vein instead of her palm line and assured her she still had about six hundred years of life left, and almost knocked the crystal ball off the table when she sneezed. However, when she looked closer, she saw something moving… a man was… doing something, but, when she looked closer, he disappeared.

"There was something there… I saw it!" Emily said, staring at Professor Marchbanks, who nodded and informed her she could leave.

Matt was last to be called. He ended up with the same guy Caitlin had, though he and Shailagh Hacker were the only two people left in the room. The Hufflepuff with her hair in a bun was reading Professor Tofty's palm and giving him detailed information on his life and various other things.

"She's really good," muttered Matt, sitting down. The tealeaves he got reminded him of a plane, so he said the wizard would be traveling on a plane very soon. When he showed him the hands, however, Matt drew a blank. He shrugged, and immediately moved into the crystal ball. At the next table, Shailagh was peering into the ball intently, focusing on something. Trying to mimic her, Matt almost immediately saw something.

"It's a black… bird…" Matt muttered.

"What kind of bird?" asked the wizard.

"It… might be a robin. Or a hummingbird," Matt said, without thinking, "And… he's flying in a spiral… heading for the bottom… and… hmmm… well,, that's all he's doing."

"I see. Not bad," the man said, writing something down.

"Yeah… I…" Matt stopped because he wanted to hear what Shailagh was saying.

"… and she's being carried away by some centaurs…" she was saying, but then Matt caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Out of the rafters, Cyclone came pelting in a spiral dive… and crashed straight onto the wizard's head. Matt gasped, grasping the bird. He was torn between shock at the bad luck of Cyclone's timing… and the fact that he had seen that in a crystal ball.

"I'm so sorry," he said, snatching the bird up, "Are you okay?"

The man nodded, writing something down. He then smiled again, somewhat sadly, and left the room. As Matt also left, Shailagh was still going strong.

"… the three will decide they want to leave and will return to the castle, angering the people at Salem and the American Wizarding Cabinet won't be happy…"

At that time, however, Professor Marchbanks insisted that Matt leave the Great Hall so they could prepare for dinner. He nodded and headed for his Common Room to study for his Astronomy exam.

It was five of eleven when Matt, Lisa, and Emily finally arrived, just in time for the exam. Caitlin and Draco had just arrived from patrol, and, as there were only five seats left, they took seats that faced Hagrid's Hut and the lake. On their left, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were preparing in their own ways for the exam, while on their right, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were talking to… Seth! Emily almost gasped when she saw that, but Professor Tofty had politely informed them that the exam would last for an hour and a half. They passed out the blank star charts and were told to begin.

Over the next hour, Matt had entirely finished his star chart and was gazing at the moons and the grounds with his telescope. Emily was about two-thirds of the way done, and Caitlin was only about three fifths. It also didn't help that Matt's telescope creaked loudly when he adjusted it.

"Knock it off," both girls snapped at him in whispers when he did it again.

"Sorry," he whispered, letting go of his telescope. Then, the doors opened and light spilled onto the grounds for a while before the doors were closed. Intrigued, Matt watched, trying to figure out who the people were.

He recognized Umbridge. Even at that distance, it was impossible to mistake her and her squatness and her stupid little strut-walk. There were six in all, and Matt assumed they were Ministry officials because none had Filch's stoop nor any other teachers' walk. Frowning, he focuses his telescope again, but it creaked loudly. Emily elbowed him, but he pointed towards Umbridge's group. Caitlin noticed and all three moved to watch. The darkness gave their vision some distortion, but they got the gist: the group was heading for Hagrid's. Sure enough, there was a knock a few minutes later before all entered the cabin, obscuring the windows so that even the cabin was dark now.

"I don't like this," muttered Matt.

"Me neither," Emily said.

"No talking!" said Professor Marchbanks, making Matt and Emily jump so bad their telescopes creaked. A few students snickered, but Matt just silently handed Marchbanks his completed star chart before watching Hagrid's without the telescope.

There was a roar a couple of minutes later. Matt jumped slightly, and many around him tried to look and see what was going on. Professor Tofty looked concerned, but gave a small cough.

"Try and concentrate now, boys and girls," he said in his soft, calming voice.

Matt and Emily both ignored him. Emily had only a few stray stars unmarked and was instead watching the hut. She knew something bad was about to happen. Sure enough, the door flew open again with a loud BANG! Several people, including Matt and Lisa, jumped so bad they poked themselves in the eye and nose with their telescopes. A spectacular brawl was going on, Hagrid versus six Ministry Officials, all of whom were shooting Stunning Spells at Hagrid at once.

"No!" Hermione screamed as the shouts and roars got louder.

"My dear!" Professor Tofty said, sounding very annoyed, "This is an examination!"

"Oh my god! What are they doing to him?" Lisa whispered to Matt.

"The Great Oaf is finally getting sacked," Malfoy said maliciously. Caitlin nodded, peering down at the fray.

"Be reasonable, Hagrid!" came a man's voice.

"REASONABLE BE DAMNED! YEH WON' TAKE ME LIKE THIS, DAWLISH!" Hagrid's reply came in a roar.

A lot of people exchanged frightened looks. No one had ever seen Hagrid this angry before. To see a half-giant lose his temper was truly a thing none of them ever wanted to see again.

"Look!" squealed Parvati as the doors opened again. A sole figure was running across the lawn towards Hagrid.

"Isn't that McGonagall?" Matt asked, heart skipping a beat, "Does she realize there's six people?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Emily said, looking slightly worried.

"Me, too," Matt added.

"How dare you! How _dare_ you!" shouted Professor McGonagall from the grounds, pulling her wand out as she went, "Leave him alone! _Alone_, I say! On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such—"

"OH MY GOD!" Matt and Lisa shouted at the same time. Four Stunners had been shot straight from the six figures and collided right into McGonagall's chest. She stopped, illuminated by the red glow of the spells, and then was thrown backward, landing hard on her back. She didn't get up.

Without warning, Matt stood up and ran from the tower. Lisa and Emily followed. They ran down every flight of stairs to the bottom, before finally reaching the first floor. There, Filch stopped them.

"And what are you three doing out of yer beds?" he asked, slapping the whip against his hands.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Matt said, knocking Filch aside with such force that he was knocked against a wall, which also took the wind out of him.

By the time they'd thrown both doors open, the fight was over. Umbridge had just sent her last Stunner at Hagrid and had moved on to trying to revive her fallen comrades. Emily glared at her, while Matt and Lisa moved to their teacher. She was unconscious… but Lisa did feel a faint pulse in her left arm.

"GET MADAM POMFREY!" roared Matt to Emily, who was still 20 feet away.

She had gone and returned in less than twenty seconds. With her came not only the Nurse, but Professors Snape, Sinistra, Flitwick, and Sprout. They all crowded around her, ignoring Umbridge and her comrades. Matt was sitting on the ground, head on his knees, and Lisa sat next to him with her arm around him. Emily was standing around the group, delivering the details as she had seen them.

"Four, you say? At her age? It's a wonder she's still alive," said Professor Sinistra, looking as though she may cry.

"We have to get her to St. Mungo's right away," said Madam Pomfrey quickly, "Severus, would you…?"

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Snape said, quickly magic king McGonagall onto a stretcher.

"Would you three like to return to your dorms?" asked Professor Sinistra.

Emily thought about the last time she had been an eye witness and all the questions shed endured. Matt and Lisa knew their friends wouldn't let them sleep until every detail had been relayed. So, they shook their heads and allowed themselves to be escorted to the Hospital Wing where they spent a restful night under the influence of Dreamless Sleep Potions.

The next day's History of Magic Exam was supposed to be in the morning, but, with the previous night's incidents, Professors Marchbanks and Tofty decided to leave the examination until afternoon. Caitlin took this opportunity to take a stroll along the farther bank with Malfoy.

"So we've got… Trelawney, McGonagall, Hagrid, and Dumbledore gone," said Malfoy, happily, "We only need to get rid of a few more and everything will be well."

"I don't like how they snuck up on him in the dead of night. The idiots," Caitlin said, throwing a rock into the lake, "They probably woke him up and sent him into a fury."

"Still, the Great Oaf is gone, so that's a good thing," said Malfoy.

"Of course," Caitlin shrugged, "But what I mean is… if they had taken him on during the day time, when he was less likely to go into a frenzy, they wouldn't have three Auroras in St. Mungo's right now."

"I heard Dawlish was almost killed," Malfoy said, smiling happily again, "I never liked him much. Pity the Half-Giant didn't get a good enough swipe at him before he keeled over."

"I don't want to take the History of Magic final. I don't need that class, I don't want that class, and I refuse to sit through another Binns class."

"So… let's skip it. We'll volunteer for patrol that hour, and if we get in trouble, we can always blame Umbridge," said Malfoy, putting his arm around Caitlin.

"Good idea. Let's do it," said Caitlin with another evil grin as they went to speak with the Headmistress.

Meanwhile, Matt, Lisa, and Emily were studying in the Hospital Wing. All three had decided they were actually going to try on this exam, even though it wouldn't be easy. At quarter to one, they thanked Madam Pomfrey and left, heading for their last O.W.L. and, hopefully, the end to a stressful week. They entered to the stares of their fellow classmates, and took their assigned seats. Matt was to the left of Harry Potter, Lisa was right front and center. Emily was in the third row, fourth from the left. Caitlin and Malfoy had been placed side-by-side in the back row.

There was a hush as everyone tried to recall various dates and such to their minds. Matt was terrified of this exam. It was bad enough trying to memorize History of Magic notes for one year, but to have just two months for five years was unheard of. Plus, the previous nights traumatic events were going to be a severe distraction. Emily and Caitlin weren't as concerned: History of Magic wasn't as much required to their jobs, so wasn't as urgent.

When Professor Marchbanks said they could begin, she turned over the large hourglass and ordered them to begin. Some, like Hermione and Matt, began scribbling right away. Many, especially those who had been up late, stared at their papers for about a minute before they actually realized they were supposed to answer the questions.

It took Matt nearly 45 minutes to reach the second of the four-page exam. The questions on the front had been very difficult, though, to his relief, the second page seemed to be easier. He stretched, leaning back and receiving a stab in the back from Blaine's quill. One quick glance around the hall showed him who was stumped and who was going strong. Next to him, Harry seemed to have fallen into a day-sleep. His mouth was moving and no words were coming out, but his eyes were closed.

"Let's not have any wandering eyes," said a voice in Matt's ear, making him jump. Professor Tofty smiled reassuringly and moved on. Flushing, Matt returned to his examination.

"Heh… idiot," Caitlin muttered after Matt was scolded. But, then she felt a small twinge of an unfamiliar feeling… regret, perhaps? Or something not as strong. She felt somewhat bad for insulting Matt. But… why should she? He was a Ravenclaw, a Mudblood…

"But so am I…" Caitlin muttered to herself, and then realized she was only halfway through her response to the Witch Burnings of 1807 and why they were forgotten to history.

"Strange… I know I just read this earlier," Emily muttered, trying in vain to write an essay on one of the larger Giant Wars. She was on page three, but almost two thirds of the first two pages were either blank or had one sentence answers, not nearly enough for the required E to get into the N.E.W.T. class.

Another five minutes passed in silence. Suddenly, however, there was a long, loud scream, a scream that made everyone jump. Harry Potter had suddenly fallen sideways out of his chair, his head only inches from Matt's bare feet (his sandals were uncomfortable and the cool stone floor felt nice on his hot feet). Those around Harry all leapt out of their seats as he withered on the ground for another ten seconds, screaming in agony. Then… he stopped, and his eyes fluttered open. He sat up, breathing heavily and looking flushed and sweaty.

"Harry?" Matt asked, replacing his sandals on his feet. The entire Hall was staring at him now, and Professors Tofty and Marchbanks were moving through the crowds towards him.

"Move aside, move aside," commanded Professor Marchbanks, "You've got half an hour of exam time left, get working!"

Many, especially Hermione and the Ravenclaws, leapt back into their seats and began to write. Matt also resumed his seat and began to fly through his answers, answering as quickly as possible.

"Nice to know you're worried about your friends," Emily snapped at Hermione as she resumed her seat. Hermione glared at her momentarily, before resuming her furious scribbling (though throwing worried looks in Harry's direction).

"Potter did it again," Malfoy muttered, still smirking as he wrote, "Having his little turns all over the school."

"I thought someone was putting the Cruciatus Curse on him…" Caitlin said, sounding disappointed.

"Mr. Potter, come with me," said Professor Tofty, making a few glance around again.

"No… I don't need…" Harry said, starting to struggle to get away. A few exchanged nervous looks. Matt was still shaking.

"Now, now, to the Hospital Wing with you," said the old wizard as he led Harry out of the Great Hall. He returned about ten minutes later and picked up Harry's exam scroll and put it on the front desk.

When the exam finally let out, Matt met Emily and Lisa. They looked a little frightened by the turn of events, and were debating on going to see Harry, but finally decided not to. He probably didn't want to have anyone but Ron and Hermione visiting him. So, instead, they returned to their dorms and dropped off their examinations papers. Following this, the three headed for the Great Hall for dinner. It was a little early, but all three were famished.

"That's weird," said Lisa as they approached the next floor down, "There's normally about eighty or so students trying to cram through here right now."

"Hey!" came a small voice. Rachel Younger was rushing up to them, toting her bag after her, "Finish your exams?" 

"Yeah," Matt said, "History of Magic was horrible… and then Harry decided to have a seizure half way through it."

"Still… I could care less if I have to take it next year," Emily said, as they rounded the last corner to Umbridge's Corridor. The only person was the lone figure of Ginny Weasley.

"What's she doing?" said Lisa, blinking.

"Hey, Ginny," they said as the four approached her, "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, guys," said Ginny in a voice that suggested she had prepared this already, "Can't go this way. Garroting Gas."

"Ginny… there's no gas down there," said Lisa, skeptically.

"Lisa, there is _Garroting Gas_. It's _transparent_," Ginny implied, stressing her words carefully.

Matt was still not convinced, "Ginny… Garroting Gas isn't clear, its…"

"Matt, look, I can't tell you guys why, but you can't come down here," said Ginny, staring Matt straight in the eye, looking somewhat hurt that she couldn't reveal the answer.

"But…" Matt began, but there was a sudden gasp and a large, hairy arm closed over his neck, making it impossible for him to breath.

"Hey, Caitlin, Professor Umbridge is calling us again," said Malfoy, walking towards Jo, Cait, and Caitlin. All three girls had just washed up before dinner, having chased off a few Gryffindor Second Years.

"What could she possibly want _this _time?" moaned Caitlin, not looking forward to dealing with the High Inquisitor again.

"Oh… a small matter involving an invasion into her office," said Malfoy maliciously, "She's just a floor up, come on."

"Ooh… who was dumb enough to cross her this time?" asked Cait happily as they walked forward.

"Potter, obviously. Warrington has Weasley…" said Malfoy.

"What?" gasped Jo, "What did he do?"

"He came and told us Peeves was raising hell in McGonagall's office. However… Filch had just informed us that he was actually in the Astronomy Tower. Moron," Malfoy added, smirking.

"Let's hurry, I want to catch him in the act," said Cait, rushing forward. The four arrived at Umbridge's side about 30 seconds later.

"Ah… so, we have more people to help us," said Umbridge. Around here were two 6th Years, a boy and girl Caitlin didn't know, "Let's go. But be quiet, I'm sure they have spies around."

They headed for the floor. Warrington was dragging a gagged Ron the whole way. As they rounded the last corner, Umbridge put her fingers to her lips. Caitlin's eyes widened. There, standing on the corner, were Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Lisa Turpin, a younger Ravenclaw, and Matt and Emily! What were they doing there?

"Shh… get them," Umbridge commanded.

They moved in. The 6th Year Female grabbed Ginny and held her arms behind her back. Goyle threw his arm around Matt, who promptly started choking. Lisa was stopped by Pansy and Cait combined (although Cait allowed Pansy to transport her). Josephine, who had just arrived, held the other Ravenclaw, Rachel, at bay. They were just getting ready to head down the corridor when they heard a voice:

"Leave her alone!"

Neville came running at Ginny's captor, making like he was going to throw her off. Out of nowhere, Crabbe restrained Neville and, like Matt, he couldn't seem to breathe right. With a malicious smile, Umbridge surveyed her captives, while the 6th Year Boy arrived with Luna, who was walking along with her captor while staring at the wall.

"Now then… where is Potter?" Umbridge asked.

Still silently choking, Matt shook his head furiously. Emily, being restrained now by Ashley and another Slytherin she didn't know, just glared with her eyes frozen. Lisa and Rachel, both looking mortified, didn't say anything and stared. Luna hung serenely, and Ginny and Neville glared at Umbridge with pure defiance. Ron was still struggling to get away from his captor.

"Fine. My office, then," said Umbridge leading them forward. She leaned in carefully and immediately sent Millicent Bulstrode in. The large Slytherin, they could see, had been sent to subdue Hermione Granger. Umbridge, meanwhile, had pulled none other than Harry Potter out of the fire.

"Take their wands," said Umbridge.

The captors took their captive's wands. Matt didn't even try to stop Goyle, though the others continued to put up a fuss. Emily was trying to kick the girls with her free legs, Rachel was trying to bit into Josephine's arms, and Lisa was shaking around so much that it looked like she, too, was having a seizure. Neville, however, was slowly choking to death from Crabbe's grip. Caitlin and Malfoy stood next to Harry, although when Caitlin looked at Matt, there was a hurt expression in his eyes that awoke another feeling inside her: pity.

"So, Potter," Umbridge said, sitting behind her desk, "You stationed lookouts around my office and sent this buffoon to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that he was busy smearing ink on the eyepieces of the school telescopes, Mr. Filch having just informed me so."

"Clearly, it was very important for you to talk to someone," Umbridge continued, ignoring the struggles, "Was it Albus Dumbledore? Or that half-breed Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she is still too ill to talk to anyone…"

At those last words, Matt threw himself so furiously that Goyle lost part of his control. The Ravenclaw smashed his head against the windowsill, and he suddenly slumped into Goyle's arms. Goyle let him fall to the floor, stepping back. Lisa and Rachel both gasped, looking horrified. Emily snarled and tired even more to get through. The rest of the Slytherins (except Caitlin, Jo, and Cait) laughed.

"It's none of your business who I talk to!" Harry shouted, also reacting to Matt knocking himself unconscious.

"Very well," Umbridge said, her face becoming tighter, "Very well, Mr. Potter… I offered you the chance to tell me freely. You refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco – fetch Professor Snape."

Malfoy was gone and back in less than three minutes. With him came Professor Snape, who looked indifferently to the struggling students.

"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" Snape asked, ignoring everyone else.

"Ah, Professor Snape," said Professor Umbridge, her face lighting up maliciously again, "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter," replied the Potions Master, staring at Umbridge coolly, "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."

Umbridge's face flushed. Obviously, she had used just a bit more than three drops, "You can make some more, can't you?!"

"Certainly," Snape said, lip curling, "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in about a month."

"A month?" Umbridge shouted, eyes bugging, "A _month!?_ But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"

"Really?" Snape said, looking just slightly interested for the first time, "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules."

Emily was still struggling. She was the only one actively trying to get away from her captors. The others, even Rachel and Lisa, were just watching the proceedings with mild interest and fear.

"I wish to interrogate him!" Umbridge shouted again, "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"

"I have already told you," Snape replied, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter – and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy with you if you did – I cannot help you. The only problem is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling…"

"You are on probation!" shrieked Umbridge, pointing a stubby finger at Snape, who took a step back, "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better! Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"

With just a bow, Snape began to leave. Harry, however, stopped him.

"He's got Padfoot!" shouted Harry, "He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!"

Emily noticed Ginny, Ron, and Hermione looking shocked for a moment, but Snape showed no signs of… any emotion at all.

"Padfoot?" Umbridge screamed, looking between the Gryffindor and Professor quckly, "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"

Snape was continuing to gaze at Harry, looking slightly amused if anything.

"I have no idea," said Snape coldly, "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me, I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if ever you apply for a job."

The door closed. Professor Umbridge stood up, removing her wand and rolling up her sleeves. She seemed to have mixed emotions, as though she was willing herself to do something.

"Very well… very well…" she was muttering to herself, "I am left with no alternative…. This is more than a matter of school discipline…. This is an issue of Ministry security…. Yes… yes…"

Emily and Caitlin shared the same worry. Some of the Slytherins looked worried. Others, like Caitlin and Jo, looked nervous. Matt still wasn't moving, and Rachel was staring at him, obviously wondering if he was dead or not.

"You are forcing me, Potter…. I do not want to, but sometimes circumstances justify the use… I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice… The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue," Umbridge said, quietly.

"No!" shouted Hermione, as Emily and Caitlin both gasped against their will, "Professor Umbridge – it's illegal – "

But Umbridge didn't seem to hear or care. She was pointing her wand all around Harry's body, and her face had changed. She had a hungry look on her face, a terrible smirk.

"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!" cried Hermione again.

"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," Umbridge replied, now panting, "He never knew I ordered dementors after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him all the same…"

"It was _you?_" Harry said, eyes widening in hate, "_You_ sent the dementors after me?"

"_Somebody_ had to act," Umbridge said, "They were all bleating about silencing you somehow – discrediting you – but I was the one who actually _did_ something about it…. Only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today, though, not now…"

She raised her wand. Rachel turned her head to the side and her eyes squeezed shut. Lisa held her breath. Emily found herself shaking from fear and infuriation. She wished Seth would show up and break them out somehow…

"_Cruc_—" Umbridge began to shout.

"NO!" Hermione suddenly shrieked, seeming to break down, "No – Harry – Harry, we'll have to tell her!"

"No way!" Harry replied, angrily.

"We'll have to, Harry, she'll force it out of you anyway, what's…. what's the point…?"

She began to sob into Millicent's arm. The large Slytherin girl, with a look of disgust, shoved Hermione away from her, wiping her robes on Josephine.

"Well, well, well," Umbridge said in a triumphant voice, "Little Miss Question-All is going to give us some answers! Come on then, girl, come on!" 

"Er – my – nee – no!" shouted Ron from the gag Warrington had on him.

"I'm sorry everyone," Hermione said, glancing tearfully to the Americans, too, "But – I can't stand it –"

"That's right, that's right, girl!" Professor Umbridge shouted, seizing Hermione by the shoulders, thrusting her into the chair she had previously occupied, "Now then… with whom was Potter communicating just now?"

"well," Hermione said, gulping loudly, "well, he was _trying_ to speak to Professor Dumbledore…"

Ron and Ginny froze. Luna looked up, mildly surprised. Neville stared through his suffocation. Only Matt didn't move. He was still out for it. Emily tried to cover up this suspicious movement.

"Hermione… how could you?" she gasped, looking convincingly horrified and indignant.

"Dumbledore?" said Umbridge eagerly, "You know where Dumbledore is, then?"

"Well… no!" Hermione said, resuming her sobbing, "We've tried the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley and the Three Broomsticks and even the Hog's Head—"

"Idiot girl! Dumbledore won't be sitting in a pub when the whole Ministry's looking for him!" shouted the High Inquisitor, looking crestfallen and disappointed.

"But – but we need to tell him something important," Hermione cried, still holding her hands tight to her face and rocking slightly.

"Yes? What was it you wanted to tell him?" Umbridge asked, her excitement returning.

"We… we wanted to tell him it's r-ready!" choked Hermione, coughing right afterwards.

"What's ready?" demanded Umbridge, shaking Hermione, "What's ready, girl?"

"The… the weapon," Hermione whispered.

"Weapon? Weapon?" Umbridge gasped, her eyes popping, "You have been developing some method of resistance? A weapon you could use against the Ministry? On Professor Dumbledore's orders, of course?"

"Y-yes," Hermione gasped, "But had to leave before it was finished and n-n-now we've finished it for him, and we c-c-can't find him t-t-to tell him!"

"We don't r-r-really understand it," Hermione said, sniffing loudly and wiping her nose, "We j-j-just did what P-P-Professor Dumbledore told us t-t-to do…"

Umbridge stood up straighter. Her head was now even with Hermione's.

"Lead me to the weapon," she commanded.

"I'm not showing… _them_," Hermione cried, looking through her fingers at the Inquisitorial Squad members.

"It's not for you to set conditions," snapped Umbridge.

"Fine!" Hermione shouted, sobbing hysterically again, "Fine! Let them see it, I hope they use it on you! In fact, I wish you'd invite loads of people to come and see it! Th-that would serve you right – oh, I'd love it if the wh-whole school knew where it was and how to u-use it, and then if you annoy any of them they'll be able to s-sort you out!"

Umbridge froze again. She glanced around at the Inquisitorial Squad. Caitlin elbowed Malfoy to get rid of the look of excitement and greed in his face, but Umbridge caught it and she seemed to realize it would be best not to take the Squad with her.

"All right, dear, let's make it just you and me…" she said in a different voice, like a mother who was trying to be calm and not so very excited, "… and we'll take Potter, too, shall we? Get up, now—"

"Professor," Malfoy said, quickly, "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the squad should come with you to look after –"

"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?" Umbridge said, rather sharply, "In any case, it does not sound as though this weapon is something that schoolchildren should see. You will remain here until I return and make sure none of these escape."

"All right," Malfoy said, looking deeply disappointed. Some other Slytherins looked put-out, too.

"And you two can go ahead of me and show me the way," said Umbridge, pointing at Harry and Hermione with her wand, "Lead on…"

They left the room, slamming the door behind them. Malfoy listened in the keyhole for about a minute, before rounding on Ron.

"Well, Weasel King, you have a weapon, do you? What is it? How does it work?" Malfoy spat, glaring at Ron.

"I – won't – tell – you –" Ron snarled through his gag.

"Oh, I think you will," Malfoy said, taking out his wand, "Else I might have to loosen your tongue, too."

"Draco," said Caitlin, sharply, "Let's not go into any illegal activity. Let's just wait for Professor Umbridge to return.

"Fine," said Malfoy, returning his wand slowly to his pocket, along with Harry's.

Emily looked around to the rest of the captives. Neville was still struggling slightly for breath against Crabbe, who seemed to have re-tightened his grip. Ginny was furiously kicking at the shins of the 6th year. Rachel had given up fighting and had tears silently flowing down her cheeks. Lisa looked furious, but was also conserving her energy. Matt was still unconscious, but Emily noticed something. He was on his right side, and his arm seemed to have been shoved into his robes when he fell on it.

"Jo, hold her for a moment," said Cait, walking over to the window with Caitlin. They watched as the High Inquisitor pushed the students into the Forest and out of sight.

"Well, it looks like Potter and Granger won't be returning," said Malfoy, smirking, "Our dear Headmistress will have a fine time of it, too. Werewolves in there, you know."

"Yeah, we know," said Goyle, who was standing next to Matt's body, "What should I do with him?"

"Kick him and see if he wakes up," Malfoy said, shrugging.

"Okay," Goyle said, raising his foot back a bit.

"What the?" said Josephine, looking up. Above them, a small, bluish-green object zoomed spasmodically past them. With a second glance, they all placed the name to object: Cyclone was back.

"It's that damn hummingbird," Pansy said, whipping out a wand (Lisa's), "But I'll stop it."

"No," gasped Rachel, but, at that moment, there was another shout.

"STUPEFY!" Matt shouted, leaping suddenly to his feet, wand stretched out.

Pansy went down and Lisa's wand fell next to the Ravenclaw's foot. She performed some sort of a kick and flip combo and was able to free herself and pick up her wand. The other Slytherins whipped out their own wands and prepared for combat.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Matt to the 6th Year Boy. All the wands in his pocket flew out and fell to the ground around their owners.

"Cait, get down," said Caitlin, shoving her friend to the floor as the rest of the captives got into it.

Ron knocked Warrington against the wall with a Stunner of his own. Emily, in a fury, attacked two of the other girls with the Petrificus Totalus spell, and Neville was freed by Ginny who sent a Stunner to Crabbe. He returned the favor by using the Impediment Jinx on the girl who tried to hold Ginny back. She flew over the table and slammed down next to Cait and Caitlin, unconscious. Rachel knocked Josephine out, while Lisa took Millicent to an early sleep. Ginny also turned her wand on Malfoy and he was suddenly attacked by huge, flying bogies. He fell against the corner of Umbridge's desk and moved no more, the bogies wings scratching him in the face as he lie there.

"Nice one, Ginny," Matt said, but suddenly felt himself forced into a position that left his neck very vulnerable to being broken. Goyle had somehow survived the onslaught of jinxes.

"Make a move, and I'll kill him," he shouted. Everyone froze, their wands at their sides. He smiled evilly, but as he moved forward, they saw Caitlin poke her head up from behind the desk.

"STUPEFY!" shouted the American Slytherin. Goyle let go of Matt and fell to the ground. Matt straightened up and looked around, blinking.

"We surrender!" shouted Cait, placing her wand on the desk and putting her hands in the air. Caitlin did the same.

"Really? I think we ought to just stun them," said Ron, waving his wand threateningly.

"Hey, we didn't do anything to you," Caitlin replied.

"No! Let them go, they just saved me," Matt said, standing between the Slytherins and others.

"I agree with Matt. If he trusts them, they must be okay," Rachel said.

"Fine. We'll just take them with us, but we're taking your wands," Ginny said, taking the girls' wands.

"Deal," said Caitlin, as she and Cait moved forward.

"Let's go," Ron said, leading them out of the room.

"Caitlin…" Matt said as they walked out, "Thanks."

"Yeah…" Caitlin said, "You're welcome…"

"Wait," Matt said as everyone began to leave, "This has been bugging me all year, and I feel I must act…"

He whipped out his wand again and pointed to all the plates with the Technicolor kittens on it. After muttering a quick spell, the cats leapt off the plates to the ground. They were all normal-colored now, and the only sign they had been so horribly colored was their bows around their necks. They mewed playfully, rubbing against the Slytherins and others.

"Okay, I'm ready," Matt said, happily following the rest.

They ran down the stairs and out the front doors in record time, thankfully not meeting anyone. As they sprinted across the grounds, Matt tried to get a back story from Ron.

"Harry was trying to communicate with his Godfather to see if he was kidnapped or not. But I don't know the rest of it," Ron said, as they jumped over roots and pushed through the brush.

"Was he?" asked Emily, keeping up with ease.

"Yes," said Ron, "And we have to save him."

"What fun," Matt said, "Should be a nice place to practice our D. A. skills."

"You can't—" Ron began, but was caught off when they heard a roar and heard a tree fall.

"Wh-what was that?" Rachel asked, fearfully.

"A… giant?" gasped Cait, "It has to be!"

"Grawp," said Ron quietly, "This way."

The group moved forward, and they soon arrived at the scene of the carnage. There were arrows in many of the trees, although quite a few had fallen over. The group approached the area, and they heard Harry and Hermione's voice.

"Anyway, Harry," Hermione was saying, "how exactly were you planning to get all the way to London?"

"Yeah, we were just wondering that," Ron said as they approached the two Gryffindors, "So… had any ideas?"

"How'd you get away?" Harry asked, looking amazed as he took his wand from Ron while Lisa gave Hermione her's.

"Couple of Stunners, Matt's Disarming Charm, Neville brought off a really nice little Impediment Jinx, Emily went psycho," Ron said, happily, but, then added, proudly, "But Ginny was best, she got Malfoy – Bat-Bogey Hex – it was superb, his whole face was covered in giant, flapping things. Anyway, we saw you heading into the forest out of the window and followed. What've you done with Umbridge?"

"She got carried away," said Harry, "By a heard of centaurs.

"Good," said Matt, Emily, Caitlin, Lisa, and Rachel at the same time.

"And they left you behind?" Ginny asked, looking astonished.

"No, they got chased off by Grawp," Harry said.

"Who's Grawp?" asked Luna and Cait in unison.

"Hagrid's little brother," Ron said promptly, "Anyway, never mind that now. Harry, what did you find out in the fire? Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or –?"

"Sirius Black?" Cait said, eyes wide.

"Yes," Harry said to Ron, "and I'm sure Sirius is still alive, but I can't see how we're going to get there to help him."

There was a silence. The Americans were lost as to what they were supposed to be thinking about, but Luna had a good suggestion.

"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" asked Luna, matter-of-fact.

"Okay," Harry said, rounding on her, "First of all, 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that, and second of all, Ron's the only one with a broomstick that isn't being guarded by a security troll, so –"

"I have a broom," Ginny said, angrily.

"As do we," Emily said while Matt, Caitlin, Cait, Lisa, and Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, but you're not going," Ron said to them all.

"Excuse me, but I care what happens to Sirius as much as you do!" Ginny shouted back.

"You're too—" Harry began.

"I'm three years older than you where when you fought You-Know-Who over the Sorcerer's Stone," said Ginny, fiercely, "and it's because of me that Malfoy's stuck back in Umbridge's office with giant flying bogeys attacking him."

"And what about you lot?" Harry said to the Americans, "You don't even know who we're talking about, and _you _two are Slytherins."

"I never said I was planning on going," snarled Caitlin.

"Yes, you were. We're all going, we want to help," Lisa said, coolly.

"We're not backing down. We're just as old as you, except for Rachel whom I will assume responsibility for," Matt added.

"Yeah, but—" Harry began.

"We were all in the D. A. together," Neville said, quietly, "It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real – or was that all just a game or something?"

"No – of course it wasn't –" Harry said impatiently.

"Then we should come too," Neville replied, simply, "We want to help."

"That's right," smiled Luna.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Harry said, his teeth grinding, "because we still don't know how we're going to get there –"

"I thought we'd settled that?" Luna said maddeningly, "We're flying!"

"Look," Ron said, also near his breaking point, "you might be able to fly without a broomstick but the rest of us can't sprout wings whenever we –"

"There are other ways of flying than with broomsticks," said Luna serenely.

"I s'pose we're going to ride on the back of the Kacky Snorgle or whatever it is?" Ron snorted.

"The Crumple-Horned Snorkack can't fly," Luna explained, "but _they_ can, and Hagrid says they're very good at finding place their riders are looking for."

Harry whirled around. The Americans peered after him. Grins spread across their face as they picked out two pairs of white eyes gleaming at them.

"Yes!" Harry said, moving toward them.

"Is it those mad horse things?" Ron asked uncertainly, "Those ones you can't see unless you've watched someone snuff it?"

"Yes," Harry said, while Emily and Caitlin stroked the other one.

"How many?" asked Ron, looking in the wrong direction.

"Just two," replied Harry.

"Well, we need three," Hermione said, looking like she hadn't quite recovered from the previous few minute's events.

"Four, Hermione," Ginny said, scowling.

"I think there are twelve of us, actually," Luna said, serenely.

"Don't be stupid, we can't all go!" Harry shouted angrily. "Look you three aren't experienced, you two are Slytherins, you're only a First Year, and you are both as good as First Years!"

"Excuse me, but I'm just a good a fighter as anyone here," Rachel replied, also beginning to lose her cool.

"Slytherin? That automatically means am unable to come have some fun? I don't think so," Cait snarled.

"As good as a First Year? I'll have you know that I've had as good an average as Hermione in Transfiguration in the O.W.L. Year," Matt said, looking angry for the first time.

"Harry, don't even start with me. I'm as good a fighter as you, you've seen me in the D. A. Now with Dark Wizards to fight, you won't let me try my skills?" Emily said, advancing slightly.


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm not in it for you, Potter," Caitlin said, "I'm just making sure Cait and Matt and Emily don't get killed. I could care less about you."

"Okay, fine, it's your choice," Harry finally said, giving in, "But unless we can find more thestrals, you're not going to be able –"

"More will come," said Ginny, looking the wrong way herself.

"What makes you think that?" Cait asked, looking in the same direction as her.

"Because, in case you haven't noticed, Harry and Hermione are covered in blood," said Ginny, coolly, "and we know Hagrid lures thestrals with raw meat, so that's probably why these two turned up in the first place…."

"Okay, then," said Harry as one of the thestrals began to eat his sleeve, "Ron and I will take these two and go ahead, and Hermione can stay here with you all and she'll attract more thestrals –"

"I'm not staying behind!" Hermione snarled.

"There's no need," Luna said, smiling into the darkness, "Look, here comes more now…. You two must really smell…."

Indeed, no less than ten thestrals were working their way through the underbrush towards the smell of the blood. With a snarl, Harry gave in.

"All right," he said, "pick one and get on, then."

"That's all you needed to say," said Lisa, happily.

Matt, Emily, Caitlin, and Cait each walked to the nearest thestral. They then mounted them, weaving their hands into the manes so they wouldn't fall out. Harry, Neville, and Luna followed suit. However… Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Lisa, and Rachel just stood their, looking slightly nervous.

"How are we supposed to get on?" Ron asked, "When we can't see the things?"

"Here, come over this way," Matt said to Lisa and Rachel. He put Lisa on the one next to him, showing her how to weave her hands into his mane and where to put her knees, and then moved on to Rachel, helping her onto a smaller one next to Luna. He then leapt back onto his thestral and waited. Emily and Caitlin were both patting the manes and talking to them. The thestrals reminded them of their horses, Red Wind and Tucker, both of whom were missed dearly.

"We all ready then?" Harry asked, suddenly.

Everyone nodded and prepared for take-off.

"Ministry of Magic, visitors' entrance, London, then," said Harry uncertainly, "Er… if you know… where to go…"

Two seconds later, the thestrals' wings opened up. Some, like Harry and Lisa, were nearly thrown off. Luna, however, smiled rather happily as the thestrals took off with such a force that Matt almost fell off.

They were flying extremely fast. Within minutes, Hogwarts was dozens of miles behind them and the houses below were becoming more and more common. The Americans' thestrals and their friends' were all close together, obviously a family of some sort.

"Why are you guys even going with us?" Ginny called over the howling wind.

"We have no choice, you still have our wands," shouted Cait, "Besides, this is much more fun than sitting with the rest of the Inquisitorial Squad."

"Besides, I can't risk anything happening to you guys, otherwise there'll be no one to talk to on the way back to America," Caitlin said.

"We love you, too, Mini," Matt said, as they soared over another small town. Darkness was quickly falling upon them.

"But… why did you stick up for us? Weren't they your friends? I mean… why did you…" Lisa tried to find the right words.

"Curse the guy trying to kill Matt? Well, we know when we're beaten, and we decided you might go a bit easier on us if we just helped you a bit…" Caitlin said.

"Thanks, though. I don't think Mom would've liked it if I had my head snapped off right at the end of the year…" Matt said, smiling.

"Yeah… thanks. Mini, I just want you to know, I have not, by any means, forgiven you for being a royal bitch this year, and I'll probably take some time to get over it… but thank you for helping us," Emily said.

"I understand and you're welcome," Caitlin replied.

There wasn't much talk the rest of the trip. Everyone became cold, and many of their legs went numb from holding them to the sides of their thestrals. Matt would have killed for a nice glass of milk. Emily couldn't even talk because the air was drying out her throat. Caitlin was frozen solid, and wondered if she would even be able to move when the time came to get off.

As they flew over London, the thestrals suddenly dipped. Rachel screamed at the change in position, but, luckily, didn't fall off. They sank lower and lower, still going really, really fast. Matt was worried they wouldn't stop in time, and all braced for the impact, but the thestrals landed just as smoothly as they had taken off. Cold, numb, and wobbly, they all slid off their horses. Emily and Caitlin, somewhat used to dismounting, got off easily. Matt, however, smacked his elbow on the pavement as he miscalculated the jump down. Ron had also toppled to the pavement, while Hermione and Ginny were just a little shaken. Neville looked rather pleased to be on the ground again, and Luna slid off her mount gracefully as though she had done it everyday. Rachel and Lisa had thoroughly enjoyed it, and both expressed wants to fly back again.

"Where do we go from here?" Luna asked Harry politely.

"Over here," said Harry. There were two telephone boxes, side-by-side.

"Must've added a new one since last time," Ron muttered.

"Come _on!_" Harry shouted as he ran inside one. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna followed. Matt, Emily, Caitlin, Lisa, Jo, and Cait all crammed into the one on the left. They were all quite cramped, and Rachel was actually sitting on the phone itself.

"What do we do now?" Matt muttered.

"Press six two four four two!" shouted Harry from the other box. Rachel did it, and a cool female voice filled the box.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," it said.

"Um… Matt Warren, Emily Davis, Caitlin Murphy, Rachel Younger, Caitlin Raub, and Lisa Turpin. We're… here to follow Harry and the others, I guess…"

"Thank you," said the voice again, "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes."

Six badges slipped out of the metal chute for returned coins. Matt picked them up and handed them out. Matt pinned his right on his robe. It read: **MATTHEW WARREN. FOLLOWING HARRY POTTER**. The others also put theirs on, smiling as they did.

"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wand for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium."

"Whatever. Forward motion, please!" Emily said, half squashed against the wall and Lisa.

The floor of the telephone box shuddered a bit and, like the one with the others, slowly began to move down. As they went, the pavement slowly worked its way up and soon they were in complete darkness, sinking below the earth. When they reached the Atrium, they all noticed something rather eerie: it was empty, and it was dark. There should have been a night watch person there, but they were conspicuously absent.

"So, what is going on?" whispered Matt to Neville as they rejoined the others and walked down the Atrium towards the elevators.

"I'm not entirely sure. Apparently, You-Know-Who has a friend of Harry's. And now we're here to rescue him."

"Ah… I see. Any danger?" asked Emily.

"Probably some Death Eaters and You-Know-Who," said Neville, looking a little frightened.

"Bah, we can take them," said Emily, as they reached the elevators. After they had all clambered inside, Harry pressed the 9 button, and the elevator sank even more. Matt's heart began to thump, and he felt Rachel shaking by his side slightly.

"Department of Mysteries," said the cool female voice as the doors clanged open again.

Everyone ran towards the plain, black door at the end of the corridor. With only a moment's hesitation, they flung the door open, exposing a circular room with at least a dozen doors all around it. There were blue torches between each door. However, when Neville shut the door, the room began to spin. Matt and Lisa jumped, Rachel gasped, and Emily was slightly taken aback, although Caitlin and Cait found the thing amusing. The doors spun quickly, there was just a blue line. Then, the doors stopped.

"What was that about?" Ron whispered.

"I think it was to stop us from knowing which door we came from," Ginny said.

"How're we going to get back out?" Neville asked, sounding a little frightened.

"Well, that doesn't matter now," Harry said, "We won't need to get out until we've found Sirius –"

"Don't go calling for him, though," Hermione said.

"Well, duh, we're supposed to be silent," Cait said, rolling her eyes.

"Where do we go then, Harry?" Ron queried.

"I don't… well, in the dreams I went through the door at the end of the corridor from the lifts into a dark room, this one, and then I went through another door into a room that kind of… glitters. We should try a few doors… I'll know the right way when I see it," said Harry.

They went to the first door. When they pulled it open, it was revealed to be a dimly lit room, with only a few desks and a large tank in the middle of it.

"What are those things?" whispered Ron.

"Dunno," Harry replied.

"Are they fish?" Ginny asked.

"Aquavirius maggots!" said Luna, excitedly, "Dad said the Ministry was breeding –"

"No," Hermione said, sounding a little sick, "They're brains."

"_Brains?_" Matt gasped, looking into the tank.

"Yes… I wonder what they're doing with them…?"

Indeed, there were a few doze brains floating lazily in the tank. Rachel and Lisa looked utterly repulsed, but Matt and Emily looked rather interested.

"Let's get out of here," said Harry, "This isn't right, we need to try another door –"

"There are doors here too," Ron pointed out.

"In my dream I went through that dark room into the second one," said Harry, "I think we should go back and try from there."

"This will take forever…" whined Cait quietly.

"Deal with it. We have no choice," Emily muttered, sounding as though she, too, didn't want to spend eight hours trying to find the right door.

They walked back into the circular room. However, as Luna began to close the door, Hermione drew a large, red X on it. So, when the room rotated again, the X burned brightly, so that they could tell which door they'd already tried.

"Good thinking," Harry said, "Okay, let's try this one –"

Again, they strode forward. This door was also dimly lit, but much larger. There was a sunken look to the room, and, in the middle of the bottom of the floor was a large, stone dais with a stone archway that had a single veil. Matt shivered and walked out, closely followed by Cait, Lisa, and Rachel. After a moment, Emily and Caitlin did the same.

"That was weird… I felt like we were being watched," said Matt, shaking slightly.

"Yeah… it was as though we were in a graveyard and ghosts were flying around us," added Rachel, looking pale.

The others joined them about a minute later. Hermione drew another X and the room spun. They headed for a third door, pulling it open as they went. This one, however, was locked. Not only did Alohomora not work, but the knife Harry used just melted. Deciding to leave that one, they headed to the next and pulled it open.

"_This is it!_"

Harry looked excited, and, indeed, it had to be the one. There were beautiful, dancing, sparkling lights. When one could look at the lights and not go blind, they saw no less than a hundred clocks of every size and shape. They headed forward, and saw a crystal bell jar that stood at nearly six foot tall and was the source of the glittering.

"Oh _look!_" Ginny and Rachel said fondly as they approached the jar.

"It's so… pretty…" Emily said, staring.

Inside was a tiny, jewel-bright egg. It rose in the jar, cracking, and a hummingbird emerged. Cyclone, who had somehow flown into Matt's pocket in Umbridge's office, peaked out at the bird, and tried to get through the glass to it, failing.

"Keep going!" said Harry sharply.

"You dawdled enough by that old arch!" Ginny said crossly, but followed. Matt grabbed Cyclone and stowed him back in his pocket before continuing."

"This is it," said Harry as they approached one last door, "It's through here –"

Matt's heart pounded again. Lisa and Rachel were both shaking now. Emily was trying to keep her breathing even, and the two Caitlins kept exchanged frightened looks. Everyone had their wand out and poised, ready to fire if necessary.

Inside this room, they saw only shelves dozens of feet high, each with small, dusty orbs on them. The orbs contained a bright, blue flame and, for some reason, seemed to make the room feel frozen. It was very cold, after all.

"You said it was row ninety-seven" whispered Hermione.

"Yeah," breathed Harry, looking at the sign in front of them: Row Fifty-Three.

"This way," said Matt, pointing, "Yeah, that's Row 54…"

"Keep your wands out," said Harry, softly.

Each crept forward, staring behind them as they went on down the alleys of shelves. As they passed 84 and 85, they listened for the slightest movements. However, they heard none, and kept going silently forward.

"Ninety-seven…" Hermione whispered at last.

They stood at the end of the row, but… there was no one there.

"He's right down at the end," said Harry, looking nervous, "You can't see them properly from here…."

He led them down the row. Each step they took produced more doubt in Caitlin's mind and more nerves in Matt's. Emily, however, was looking at the labels below each of the orbs. There were initials and titles to them, and Emily instantly knew what they were: prophecies.

They reached the end of the row. Harry looked nervous again, "somewhere… about… here…" he muttered.

"He might be…" Harry whispered, looking down the next row, "Or maybe…"

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"What?" he snarled.

"I… I don't think Sirius is here," she replied, shaking.

Everyone was silent. Harry avoided their eyes, and all knew he was embarrassed and confused. He had led them there for nothing. Caitlin exchanged a glance with Cait, both rolling their eyes. Matt became relieved, and Emily resumed her reading of the labels. One caught her eye.

"A-M. T. V. to A. P. W. B. D. 'Shane McGuire and Seth McGuire…'" she read aloud.

"Hmm?" Matt said as the Americans and their friends flocked over.

"It's Seth's name… strange, I haven't seen him at all lately," she muttered.

"Well, what does it say?" asked Cait.

"I don't know… I don't think I can get it," said Emily, shrugging, "I remember reading prophecies can only be received by those who it is about."

"A. P. W. B. D…." muttered Lisa, "Wait… aren't those Professor Dumbledore's initials?"

"Holy cow…" muttered Matt, "You're right! Albus Percivial Wulfric Brian Dumbledore…"

"Wow. What a name," said Caitlin.

"Hey, the others found something," said Rachel, walking back over. Caitlin and Cait were forced up against the shelf as they tried to all see what the others were looking at: a sphere with Harry's name on it.

"It's got my name on it," Harry said. He picked it off the shelf, and nothing happened. Everyone moved closer. Then, right behind them:

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give it to me."

Matt felt his insides drop out again. Rachel and Lisa both gasped. Caitlin and Cait ducked down, making their shorter frames almost non-existent. Emily held her wand and whirled around, as did the others. Black shapes had emerged from all sides, blocking any escape route they might have had.

"To me, Potter," repeated a cool, drawling voice. It seemed familiar…

"Draco?" muttered Caitlin to herself.

"His father, Lucius," muttered Cait back.

Matt shielded Rachel as best he could. Lisa moved over and covered the other flank. The First Year was shaking, though she tried to be brave for everyone else.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked.

The Death Eaters just laughed.

"The Dark Lord always know!" screeched a harsh, female voice from the left.

"Always," repeated Malfoy, hand extended.

"A trap…" Emily muttered, angrily, "They lead us right into a trap."

"I want to know where Sirius is!" Harry snarled.

"_I want to know where Sirius is!"_ mimicked the woman.

"That's real Dark, jokingly repeating someone," Emily said, loudly.

"Shut up," Matt gasped, looking horrified.

"American?" muttered a few Death Eaters, looking more nervous.

"You've got him," Harry said, slightly panicked, "He's here, I know he is."

"_The little baby woke up fwightened and fort what it dweamed was twoo_," said the female in her horrible voice. Emily started to turn her wand, but Harry stopped her.

"Don't do anything," he whispered, "not yet…"

"You hear him? _You hear him?_ Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us?" the female laughed loudly.

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," Malfoy said, "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. _Now give me the prophecy, Potter._"

"I know Sirius is here," said Harry, sounding more panicked than ever, "_I know you've got him!_"

The Death Eaters continued to laugh, the female being the loudest. Malfoy, however, replied with, "It is time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter. Now, give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."

"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his wand. Everyone followed suit (except Cait and Caitlin, who still had no wands).

However, the only response was from Lucius, "Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt."

Harry laughed in much of the same manner as the Death Eaters, "Yeah, right. I give you this… prophecy is it? And you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"

"_Accio Proph—_" began the female.

"_Protego!_" Harry shouted, stopping the small orb before it flew away.

"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," the female continued, "Very well, then—"

"I TOLD YOU, NO!" roared Lucius, making everyone jump, "If you smash it—!"

The woman, however, stepped forward and removed her hood. Matt felt Neville stir next to him as the Americans realized who it was. Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the escaped prisoners.

"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling quickly, "Very well – take the smallest one, let him watch while we torture the little girl. I'll do it."

"The hell you will," spat Matt as he stood in front of Rachel, pushing her up against the orbs. Lisa stood on the other side, Emily on the left. Everyone else crowded in front, also shielding Cait and Caitlin. Rachel, eyes wide, raised her wand defiantly into the air, shaking, but ready to fight for her life.

"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," he said to Bellatrix, "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"

It worked. She didn't move, nor did the other Death Eaters. It was a stalemate.

"So," said Harry, obviously buying for time, "what kind of prophecy are we talking about anyway?"

As Harry bought them time, the Americans' thoughts were reeling.

_I promised I'd be responsible for Rachel… I must protect her, no matter what… how did I end up in this mess? Just my lucky…_ Matt was thinking.

"You jets, Harry Potter," Bellatrix said.

"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, "How come Voldemort wants it?"

The Death Eaters let out low hisses. They were furious that Harry had used his real name.

_Damn him for getting me killed her… why did I ever agree to go along?_ Caitlin thought furiously.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!" shouted Malfoy after Bellatrix tried to stun Harry.

"He dared – he dares – !" shrieked Bellatrix, "—He stands there – filthy half-blood –"

"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" roared Malfoy again.

_What can we do? Is there any way we can take on a doze fully-grown Death Eaters? Harry, why did you fall for this? How could you not see this was a trap?_ Emily thought.

A message was going around. They were to smash the shelves with the Reductor Curse when Harry gave the signal. They prepared themselves, wands shaking, for the battle and flight that was to follow.

Get it himself?" cried Bellatrix, "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Auroras, when they are at the moment wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"So he's got you doing his dirty work for him, has he?" Harry asked, "Like he tried to get Sturgis to steal it – and Bode?"

"Very good, Potter, very good…" Malfoy said, slowly, "But the Dark Lord knows you are not unintell—"

"NOW!" Harry yelled.

Twelve different voices shouted REDUCTO at the same time. Their curses flew everywhere, smashing the shelves and knocking the prophecies to the floor. The group split and ran. Matt, Emily, Caitlin, Cait, Rachel, and Lisa all ran away from the group, towards the opposite way they'd come. Many of the prophecies rained down on them, and one broke open on Cait's head, leaving a goose egg.

With a new speed borne of their desire to live, the six teens headed for the nearest door and dove into it, sealing it shut behind them. They heard a few people slam into it, but then they all hurried away. There were only two more doors in which they could exit, and they had no reason to rush, so they waited and caught their breath. Minutes later, there was silence.

"That… was… the scariest thing ever," said Matt, rocking back and forth. Rachel was sitting next to him, looking as though she might cry. Lisa had her hands over her face, lying under a desk. Caitlin and Cait were shaking, having finally gotten their wands returned to them. Emily was poised at the only unlocked door, ready to lock it if she heard voices.

"I think we should move. They know we're here, we need to re-locate," said Emily.

"Right, let's go this way…" muttered Matt. They all crept to the door and opened it, ready to strike. There was yet another corridor, this one with eight torches on either side. At the far end was another door, one that seemed to be unlocked. After they entered the corridor, they magically locked the other door and continued on.

"Sh…. I hear something…" muttered Lisa.

There were voices from the door, which they were now near. Two men were talking.

"So, Avery, when we find the Americans, we're to not harm them, right?" said one man.

"Yes, Rockwood, for the last time. The Dark Lord doesn't want us dealing with either of the Americans yet, that time has not arrived," Avery replied.

"Either?" mouthed Lisa to the Americans who all shook their heads.

"In here, we haven't checked this door, yet," said Avery's voice, closer this time.

Emily raised her wand. Matt, Lisa, and Rachel all shook horribly as they raised their own wands. The door knob turned, and the door opened.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" shouted Emily.

"STUPEFY!" added Caitlin.

The combined spells paralyzed and knocked out the two Death Eaters. However, they heard distant footsteps and shouts, and all realized they had given their positions away.

"Shit… run!" shouted Emily, diving at the first door. They fell in, and were suddenly floating. They could see, not far off, a large, planet Earth. In the far distance, they could see Jupiter, Saturn, and, presumably, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Forgetting they were being chased for their lives, they floated around, laughing at the fun they were having floating around, but another door opened in the distance and they saw more figures fly in. Matt could barely see what was going on.

"That might be… Luna and Ron and Ginny…" said Matt, "It is! What are they…?"

Suddenly, Pluto blew up. Gasping, the six near Earth floated haphazardly towards the nearest door and dove into it. They were back in the room with the hummingbird and the egg. Cyclone again tried to furiously poke through the glass, but to no avail. There was another door opened, and three more Death Eaters arrived, already shooting Stunners at them. Cait and Lisa went down, the others diving under desks.

From under a desk, Rachel took out the legs of one with Locomotor Mortis. He smashed his head off a desk and was out for the count, too. The other one was taken out by a well-placed Impediment Jinx from Emily, and, once again, Matt was seized from behind. A wand was held to his neck as the man held him about three inches off the ground.

"Give me the prophecy or the boy gets it!" said the man in a gruff voice.

"We don't have it! Let him go!" shouted Rachel tearfully.

"Wrong answer! _Avad_—" the man began, but stopped, dropped Matt, and plunged his hand into his mask. Cyclone had saved the day again, this time poking the man in the eye with his large, pointed beak.

"Thanks Cyclone," Matt said, Stunning the man for good measure.

"I can revive them," Rachel said, kneeling next to Cait and Lisa.

"What's the spell?" Matt asked.

"_Enervate!_" said Rachel. Lisa and Cait sat up, looking wildly around.

"What's going on? Are they dead? Are we dead?" Cait asked.

"It's alright, come on, we need to move on, they might catch us again," said Emily.

They dove into another corridor, one that was pitch black, but six more Death Eaters were just opening the door at the end of it. There was a small indent that was just enough for all six to squeeze in.

"They're in the next room," said a voice, "Be silent."

Matt was suddenly reminded of another time this had happened. It had been when they were trapped after the D. A. and had a bunch of Inquisitorial Squad members after them…

"Shield your eyes…" Matt said. He aimed his wand right at the Death Eaters, "LUMOS SOLARUM!"

The sunlight returned. And six loud cries and six figures collapsing was enough to tell Matt that they had succeeded. With a quick jump, everyone leapt out into the next room, where they were met with a very unusual sight. The brain room, but Luna, Hermione, and Ginny were passed out on the floor. Ron was being attacked by a brain, the tentacles having moved all the way to his neck. He seemed a bit… funny, too, giggling and moving around wildly.

"What happened here?" gasped Emily, sitting next to Ron.

"_Enervate!_" said Rachel to Ginny, who sat up, gasped, and grabbed her broken ankle.

"Ginny, what happened?" asked Matt, urgently.

"Brain attacked Ron…" gasped Ginny, "Hermione, not sure, Luna, out, and Harry and Neville went that way!"

"Okay, just sit still… I wish I had something to help you," said Rachel, kindly.

"Yeah…" said Ginny, lying back and breathing heavily.

"_Enervate!_" said Rachel to Luna, who groaned slightly and sat up.

"I'm going," said Emily, moving forward and heading towards the door where the sounds of many spells were coming from.

"Be careful," said Matt and Caitlin at the same time.

"I will," said Emily, striding forward.

"I know a few Healing Charms," Matt muttered, "Here, Gin, this one might take some of the pain away…"

"Anything to help with the pain," muttered Ginny as Matt carefully removed her sneaker to expose the ankle.

"Look!" Cait said, pointing towards the door. Professor Dumbledore was sprinting towards them.

"Are you all okay?" he asked urgently.

"Not so we can't handle it, they're all in that room," said Matt, pointing.

"Stay here, don't move," said Dumbledore, rushing forward.

"No problem…" muttered Caitlin, trying to help Rachel revive Hermione.

The scene that greeted Emily was enough to make her freeze up for a few seconds. There were a dozen Death Eaters and only a few Auroras, two of which were out of commission. She didn't know where to begin, but finally chose. Two were bearing down upon an older-looking wizard, the one she had been told was Lupin.

"STUPEFY!" she shouted, and then began raining Stunning Spells down on every Death Eater she could. They returned the favor, but she managed to avoid all of them, or repel others towards the ones who had fired them at her. She took out three before the door behind her opened again and Dumbledore arrived.

"Miss Davis, please return to the other room," he said, a fire in her eyes that she had never seen before. It frightened her enough that she went back and sat next to Matt, who was continuously casting a spell to relieve Ginny's pain.

About two minutes later, Bellatrix Lestrange ran past. Emily shot a stunner at her, and she returned with a spell that blew the wall from behind them, sending Luna, Emily, and Caitlin flying over a desk again. All three were bumped and cut, but otherwise unhurt. Harry pelted past another 30 seconds later, looking furious.

"Harry – what –?" Ginny began.

"Look out!" shouted Matt.

Bellatrix had spilled all the brains all over the floor. When the liquid reached Ron and touched the brain, the tentacles released and Ron was released, though he had the deepest welts on his arm that any had ever seen before. When Harry had left and nothing happened for a few minutes, Matt and Emily and Caitlin levitated the brains and water back into the tank.

"Are you alright?" asked Lisa, while Matt sat next to her.

"Just a cut and a few bruises. You?" Matt replied.

"Well, I cut my left arm and banged the side of my head pretty hard when I was hit, but I'm okay besides that," said Lisa.

"I'm perfectly fit," Rachel said, beaming, "Thanks to you guys."

"I'm going to kill them all," Emily snarled.

"Oh, and, guys, we were _not_ here, okay?" Cait said, suddenly.

"Huh?" asked Matt, "But…"

"Yeah, we know, but it can't be known that Slytherins were helping fight Death Eaters. Wouldn't go over well, y'know?" Caitlin added.

"Where were you, then?" demanded Ginny, her teeth gritted through the pain.

"Trapped in the forest after searching for you," replied Cait, coolly.

"Provided we get out of here alive," added Emily.

"Such a bright, little ray of sunshine," Lisa said, rubbing her temple.

They waited in silence. All combat noises had ceased, and all remained sitting in their current positions. Nearly fifteen minutes passed. Then, finally, Mediwizards began arriving. Hermione was loaded on a stretcher and carried away. Ginny was next, her ankle immobilized in a special cast. They carried a young woman by, and then a many who was missing one eye, and, finally, Neville was helped forward by a couple of Mediwizards, his face looking horrible.

"Everyone, Professor Dumbledore has requested you go to St. Mungo's for a check-up," said one of the wizards.

"Do we have to?" Caitlin groaned.

"Yes," said the man, "Now, follow us…"

When they reached the Atrium, they found it full of wizards and witches, many in bathrobes. The Americans kept their heads down so they wouldn't be recognized as they were taken to a waiting Portkey and allowed to St. Mungo's Emergency Room equivalent. Those with minor injuries were patched up, and Matt, Emily, Caitlin, Cait, Lisa, Rachel, Neville, and Luna were allowed to leave. They decided to keep Ron and Hermione overnight, however, to make sure they had no lasting injuries.

They were to return to Hogwarts via another Portkey. When they arrived on the grounds, Professor Snape was there to greet them.

"To the Hospital Wing with you all, then," said Snape, curtly.

"What? They just said we were fine," groaned Matt.

"Mr. Warren, I don't want to have to dock points at midnight on a Friday night. Just do as you're told," Snape snapped.

"What about us?" Caitlin asked.

"You two can return to your dorms," said Snape, "But you may not breath a word of this to anyone."

"Don't worry about that," said Cait, with a smirk, "We weren't there, after all…"

"Ah…" Snape said, leading the others to the Hosptial Wing for the evening.

Madam Pomfrey fussed over the group the next morning before allowing them all to leave for lunch. Ron and Hermione had been moved in earlier that morning, both still asleep. Ron's arms still looked horribly welted and Hermione still looked like she was in a coma. When the others left, they left get-well cards to Hermione and Ron (seeing as they hadn't had anything better to do). They had just a few days until the end of term, and, while most of the school was enjoying it outside in the air, Matt, Lisa, Rachel, Emily, and Ginny and Luna now, had decided a few leisurely games of DDR would be a good way to test their new-found freedom (and Ginny's newly mended ankle).

Caitlin and Cait had no problem convincing their friends of the Forbidden Forest story, especially after what had happened to Umbridge. In fact, the lot of them were relieved that they had not been taken hostage by centaurs and admired their survival skills. Everyone else was also repaired from the jinxes that had been placed upon them in Umbridge's office. Malfoy and Caitlin were as close as ever, and both were dreading the inevitable separation for the summer that was to come in less than two weeks.

That Sunday, Matt and Lisa went swimming with the rest of the Ravenclaw 5th Years (Rachel was hanging out with a few other First Years and Luna had gone to visit those in the Hospital Wing). However, they both decided to head inside early, and were met by Professor Sinistra at the door.

"Professor McGonagall is on her way back!" she said happily.

"Really?!" gasped Matt and Lisa, looking thrilled. They rushed upstairs, changed into dry clothes, and were back downstairs just as Professor McGonagall was stumping up the stairs with her cane.

"Welcome back, Professor!" the two Ravenclaws said, stopping a few stairs above her.

"Yes, yes, Warren, Turpin, it's good to be back," said Professor McGonagall, "I heard how you both handled yourselves and I must say, Professor Sinistra is proud of you, as am I. And I wanted to thank you for being the first on scene when I was… injured…"

"Anytime," said Lisa, "We're just thrilled you're back."

"Yes, well, I must head to my study. I suggest you go outside and enjoy this fine day," said Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, ma'am," said the two, rushing outside to continue enjoying the final Saturday at Hogwarts. As they passed by the hourglasses and saw the 200 points Ravenclaw had just gotten, the two cheered and rushed outside to inform their friends.

Emily, meanwhile, had a different mission for that weekend. She left the Common Room early Sunday morning, took a quick jog around the lake to get her thoughts in order. She had heard a rumor about Seth leaving in the middle of the previous night. Since she didn't feel like intruding on the Boys' dorms, she decided to go ask Dumbledore what he thought about the situation. Ever since that letter had arrived, Seth had changed, and it worried Emily greatly.

"Uh… I don't know the password…" muttered Emily to the gargoyle. It remained immovable, until it slid open and Professor Flitwick exited, beaming.

"Miss Davis, you can go up," he said, holding the gargoyle open for her as she mounted the spiraling stairs. At the large, wooden door, she knocked.

"Enter," same the familiar voice of Dumbledore.

Emily entered, wondering what the office would look like. She was shocked to see it in perfect order: portraits up and repaired, tables re-varnished, and the dozens of small, silver instruments spun in all their glory, just they had the night of Dumbledore's failed arrest. The only difference was the Fawkes, the phoenix, was looking a little ragged and wispy, his feathers not nearly as beautiful as usual.

"Ah… Emily Davis, how are you?" said the re-instated Headmaster, smiling at her.

"I'm… okay, no lasting damage from the other night," said Emily.

"Good to hear, but you seem worried about something," Dumbledore said.

"Yes… I… well, at the Hall of Prophecy, I saw an orb that had been addressed to you from some… well, I forget the initials, but it had Seth McGuire's name on it."

"Ah… that was from my vacation to southern Spain three years ago," Dumbledore said, smiling, "I saw this little Muggle fortune-telling tent. I always visit one, you see, because I find it enjoyable to hear the nonsense advice they give their customers.

"Well, as I sat there, I soon realized she was, indeed, a witch. She read my palm (and told me I had another eighty years to live, which was rather nice), and did a crystal ball reading. She claimed I was going to get a large shipment of socks. I, however, am still waiting for them.

"Then, she started to go rigid. I thought at first she might be having a seizure or something, but it was then clear to me that she was indeed a true Seer and was about to give me a prophecy. I would show it to you, because I can perfectly recall the other prophecies I've had granted to me, but… well, I was looking at it in the Pensive one day and I sort-of spilled a little bit of it and lost a few of my thoughts."

Emily chuckled slightly. She found it funny that a person could spill and lose their thoughts. Dumbledore smiled, too, and continued.

"I do remember the message of it, though. It mentioned Seth McGuire and his father, Shane, and how Shane would re-join Lord Voldemort when he returned. Further in to the prophecy, she mentioned Seth's name, saying that he would disappear for a time. However, the next part got confusing. He would either be influenced positively by his mother and remain good, or turn to his father's side and become a Death Eater himself. For her protection, we sent his mother and younger sister into hiding, under assumed names. We've not been able to locate Seth, and we fear the worst."

Emily was stunned. That letter… it had to have been from his father. And when he asked her about joining the Dark Side, he was trying to recruit her. And now, he would know she was 100 against Lord Voldemort… he may have even been trying to kill her earlier! And she had thought he was so nice… 

"I know you're upset, he was your friend," said Dumbledore, kindly, "But he was more likely to head for the Dark Side anyway. I'm afraid Seth has a hidden thirst for power, and this is the perfect way to slake that thirst. It's not the happiest ending, but this is how it needs to be."

"I understand," Emily said, sighing. Seth was one of the few people Emily had respect for in the school.

"Is there anything else you need to know?" Dumbledore asked.

"No… not that I can think of," muttered Emily.

"Well, then, I suggest you go enjoy your last week at Hogwarts. I must meet with Professor McGonagall, she's returned," Dumbledore said, standing.

"She's back?" Emily said, looking pleased.

"Yes, and she awarded you, the two Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, and the Ravenclaws with fifty points each for handling yourselves so well against the Dark Lord.

"Really? That's awesome!" Emily said, smiling as Dumbledore led her out of the office.

At breakfast the day before the end of term, Caitlin and Malfoy sat alone, talking about Malfoy's father being placed in Azkaban.

"With the Dementors gone, they could all break out within a week, which they will do, of course," said Malfoy, eating his porridge.

"Yeah, the Dementors were the only thing that made Azkaban so terrible. Now that they revolted, all hell will break loose," Caitlin said, smiling rather sadly.

"Yeah… but it will be worth it when Potter is finally defeated," said Draco, still eating.

"I _know!_" Caitlin said, vehemently. She still hated Harry for nearly getting her killed, and she would never forgive him, "But, I wouldn't worry. He's lost yet another family member, so he'll have even more pressure on him when he fights Voldemort."

"Yeah, now that Sirius Black is finally dead, I'm sure we'll all be better off," said Draco, finishing his food, "I'm off for a walk. What say you, Murphy?"

"Of course," Caitlin replied.

"You know that I might leave Hogwarts either next year or the year after," Draco commented as they walked towards the lake.

"I figured you would say that," said Caitlin.

"Yes, if the Dark Lord needs my services, I will answer him at once," Draco said, looking proud that he even had the thought of joining the Dark Lord.

"I would join," Caitlin said, "But I want to be in a position that would be useful before I put in my resume."

"Yes, the more spies we have in the Ministry or abroad, the better," Draco said.

"What are his plans for this return?" asked Caitlin.

"Get rid of Mudbloods and Muggles, of course. And he plans to move on to America and parts of Europe now," said Draco.

"Good, they need to be eliminated," Caitlin said, as they began the walk around the lake.

That night, while at dinner, Matt and Lisa were sitting with the other 5th years. Emily had walked over to join them, and Rachel and Luna were sitting on the other side. They were chatting about their summer plans, but as Mandy began to tell about her planned trip to Madrid, Matt caught movement outside the door. Professor Umbridge was trying to sneak away.

"There goes Umbridge," muttered Matt.

"Where's Peeves when you need him?" muttered Dakota.

As though waiting for the question, Peeves flew out of nowhere, cackling loudly. A walking stick in his left hand, a sack of chalk in the other, he started whacking Umbridge over the head and back with each, leaving bruises and chalk imprints on her. The Great Hall erupted in cheers and many left their dinners to watch the High Inquisitor run as fast as her stubby legs would carry her. The Ravenclaws laughed and doubled over when the teachers also started to cheer and clap.

"Pity… I wish I could have chased after her, but Peeves borrowed my walking stick," they heard Professor McGonagall say.

An idea popped into Matt's head.

"Blaine, Nate, Jack, Dakota, get McGonagall. Pick her chair up with her in it, but don't let her fall out. We're going to grant her wish," Matt said.

The four boys stood and went to the Gryffindor Head of House, all grinning.

"Everyone else, follow me," Matt said. The rest of the Ravenclaws and Emily shoved their way through the huge crowd of students.

"PEEVES!" shouted Matt, "BRING HER BACK THIS WAY, WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO SAY GOOD-BYE TO HER!"


	16. Chapter 16

Peeves whirled around, nodded, and swooped this time in front of Umbridge. She shrieked and nearly fell in her rush to run back towards the castle. Meanwhile, they heard Terry clearing the way for the others.

"Step aside! Get out of the way! Head of House coming through!" Terry shouted.

There, with the four Ravenclaw boys supporting her, came Professor McGonagall, five feet higher than everyone else, as the boys carried her chair forward. She had one arm clinging to the chair, the other free. A look of anxiousness turned into a mischievous smile when she saw Professor Umbridge. Peeves tossed her the walking stick, and Umbridge froze.

"ATTACK!" Matt shouted.

With roars, the boys charged forward with Professor McGonagall. Their teacher sat atop the throne-like seat and shrieked insults at Umbridge, waving her walking stick at her tiny figure. Peeves also chased her, smacking her head from side-to-side. The other Ravenclaws and Emily flanked McGonagall, and most of the school followed, cheering and shouting so loudly that it was sure to wake up those in Hogsmeade. When they reached the gates, Professor McGonagall, with a mighty heave, chucked her walking stick straight at Umbridge. The woman tripped, and flew face-first all the way down the large hill leading to Hogsmeade, to the intense glee of the one thousand students and staff behind her.

Their last day proved to be a long one. Mostly, it was packing and setting up summer meetings. Malfoy insisted Caitlin had to visit his mansion a few times, and Matt was trying to persuade everyone to come to America for a couple weeks. That evening, they walked down to the Great Hall, and took their seats. After a rather delicious meal, Professor Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome to the end of yet another year here at Hogwarts," he said, beaming, "I hope you all had a wonderful year and I hope you decide to return to us for another year of schooling. For the Seventh Years, it has been a long road to follow, and you've all passed it with flying colors. Hogwarts will miss you, and good luck in your future professions."

There was a round of applause for the Seventh Years, who all stood and acknowledged the claps.

"And, as always, for those of you returning, remember to get your minds good and empty this summer so that you may learn when September rolls around again."

Another bit of clapping and cheering followed this.

"Now… before we acknowledge the winners, I have a very serious message to deliver to you, so I beg for all of you to listen for just five minutes," added Dumbledore. Everyone was silent as he continued with, "I know it may seem as a shock that You-Know-Who has returned, since the Ministry of Magic has reassured you time and time again that he has not. However… you must understand that he really is back, and he's even more powerful than before. As with last year, I'm sure I'll receive even more owls from angry parents telling me I shouldn't deliver this news to you. I, however, still maintain that it is important for you to know the truth now so you can prepare yourself it the time comes."

"With You-Know-Who's finally acknowledged return, I must impress upon each and every one of you that we must remain united under the same goals of defeating him. In this school, you are divided into houses based on your values and personality traits. In the real world, however, we are the same. Never forget that. In the coming months and possibly years, we will be faced with extreme challenges that require us to all work together. We look to those who have faced these challenges for strength, and try to model ourselves after them.

"We also look to our foreign neighbors to continue the Legacy of trust and friendship that we have come to expect from Hogwarts students. Though we are separated by the sea, though we come from different backgrounds, though we speak differently, we must all try our best to ignore small differences like these in order to overcome the Dark Lord."

The students nodded, some glancing at either Matt, Emily, or Caitlin. All three looked very serious at these words, since they were now in as much danger as those of the British Isles.

"That's all I wanted to say on that. Now, it's time for the House Cup!" Dumbledore said, and everyone clapped. The hourglasses had been covered since two days ago, and no one was sure what last-minute points they had lost or received. The Great Hall was also not yet decked out in the colors for the winning house.

"I will do it by third, second, and first place," said Dumbledore, "In third, Hufflepuff with three hundred and sixteen points."

The Yellow and Black table clapped and cheered. They weren't last, and that was cause for celebration.

"Second place, with three hundred and eighty-nine points… Slytherin!" Dumbledore continued.

The Slytherin table also erupted in cheers. Caitlin was ecstatic. Now it was time for the winner. But would it be the real suspense: Gryffindor or Ravenclaw?

"Due to recent events, students in both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw received points to bringing the awareness of You-Know-Who to the magical community. However, this year's House Cup winner, with four hundred and thirteen points… Ravenclaw!"

Matt's table exploded. They clapped, stamped, screamed, and hugged one another. Lisa and Matt embraced each other, leaping around like idiots. Rachel danced on the table, sending a few goblets and plates flying. The Gryffindors clapped politely, but it was easy to see that many were slightly put out as it was their first lost in five years.

"Well done, Ravenclaw," said Dumbledore, and as he clapped, Ravenclaw colors and banners soared form the ceiling and walls, and the Great Hall was now decked out in Blue and Bronze. The deserts appeared and Dumbledore resumed his seat while everyone else started to eat.

"Good job, guys," said Emily, joining their table for a moment.

"Thanks, I thought you guys would win for sure," said Matt.

"Yeah, we had two hundred ninety points the last I checked," Emily said, "But it's okay. You guys deserved it more. Next year, however, you better watch out."

"Oh… we won…" came a dreamy voice from behind them. Luna had suddenly appeared and was smiling happily at a large Ravenclaw banner right above Matt's head.

"Yeah… where have you been?" Matt asked.

"Trying to get my stuff back," said Luna.

"Huh? You missing stuff?" Emily asked, stealing a few cookies from Matt's plate.

"Well, people just hide them and stuff…" Luna said, taking a bite of pie.

"Why? What's their problem?" Lisa said, frowning.

"Oh, well, they think I'm a bit odd… Loony Lovegood and all that…" Luna said, shrugging.

"Who did it?" demanded Lisa, looking angry now.

"Hmm… a few Hufflepuff boys… Zacharias Smith, Mateo Martine (the only child, not Jose's brother), and Justin Finch-Flechley were the culprits last year," said Luna thoughtfully.

"Well, shall we go investigate a little, then?" Matt suggested.

"Let's. After dinner, though, we don't need Sprout shouting her head off at us again…" said Emily.

When the feast was over, to a rousing Chorus of Hogwarts' School Song, they entered the Entrance Hall and immediately stalked out the three Hufflepuff boys. Sure enough, they had a few items that none would actually use.

"Where'd you get that issue of the _Quibbler_, Mateo?" Matt asked, coolly, as the three were cornered.

"It's not banned anymore, you know," Mateo said, eyes narrowing.

"No, but it's not yours. It's Luna Lovegood's," Matt replied.

"Nice blouse, Zacharias. I'm sure it looks good on you," said Lisa, glaring at the boy.

Flushing, the younger boy crossed his arms, "What's it to you?"

"And as for you, Justin," Emily said, advancing slightly, "Why don't you just tell everyone what's written in that little notebook you have, there."

"Uh… nothing," Justin said, failing at being defiant.

"Something about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, I'll bet," said Rachel, reaching for it.

The three took off down the hall. The Ravenclaws and Emily pulled their wands out, but three silver lights shot by them and all the Hufflepuffs tripped as though they'd been kicked in the back of their knees and slid across the floor.

Matt turned, grinning, to see Jo, Cait, and Caitlin standing there, wands raised.

"Don't mess with my friends, assholes," spat Caitlin.

"Mess with a friend of Caitlin's you've messed with me," Jo said, tossing her head back and pocketing her wand.

"Hey guys, thanks for that," Matt said.

"Three Phantasmal Kicks against three Hufflepuffs. No contest," said Caitlin.

"Don't let it get out we helped you, though. It was only returning the favor for… well, you know, not killing us in the woods," said Cait, winking so Jo couldn't see.

"Cait, Jo knows the story. You don't need to be secret here," Caitlin said, cutting her eyes to her friend.

"Oh, well, then, thanks for keeping us safe," Cait said, shrugging.

"Welcome. See you on the train tomorrow," Matt said, waving as the others headed for their dormitories, retrieving Luna's stuff and leaving the Hufflepuff boys to lie in the corridor.

After a long night, everyone woke up and packed. The Hogwarts Express was due to leave late that morning, and no one was in a rush to get moving in the morning.

Matt and the rest of his dorm mates didn't bother packing until eight thirty in the morning. After they had finally made sure all socks had matches and no one was missing any specific articles of clothing, they shoved their books into their trunks. Matt cleaned out his desk, and found all sorts of objects: a few pieces of his torn-up Defense Against the Dark Arts essay, a missing piece from the Quidditch set Melody had given him, and Cyclone, who had been snoozing in the drawer. However, he was missing his copy of an Intermediate Guide to Transfiguration, and when he saw the rest of the guys' mischievous smiles. With a sigh, he pulled out his wand. Cyclone flew into the rafters and cowered, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Okay, guys, we can do this one of two ways. The easy way, or the hard way. What's it gonna be?" Matt asked.

Dakota's _Impedimenta_ spell was answer enough. Within seconds, there was a complete brawl in the middle of the Common Room. Matt was pinned down with Blaine behind his desk, though they managed to knock Jack over a trunk when he tried to Stun Matt. When the fight was over, and the room was half destroyed, only Matt and Terry had no outward injuries or deformities. Laughing, they repaired themselves and the dorm as best they could and finished packing. In the Common Room, they met up with their female counterparts.

"Matt, I'm going to miss you so much," Lisa said, hugging him.

"As will I. But let's save the good-byes for King's Cross, okay?" Matt said, putting his arm around her.

"Matt, can I come visit you?" Rachel begged. She was clutching one of the cats Matt had released from Umbridge's office. It was a calico and had a beautiful pink bow around its neck. Rachel had named it Celestina, and everyone soon found out it was a playful little thing.

"Of course. You're all welcome to visit whenever you want this summer. Heh… it's going to be rather interesting to see whether or not any of my friends back home believe me when I say I'm a wizard."

"And _you_ can use magic to a small extent," said Lisa, jealously, "Wizards over 16 in America are allowed to do simple charms, and can even let Muggles see if the Muggles in question sign a forum and lodge it with your little Department of Muggle Awareness."

"Are you serious?" Matt said, looking thrilled, "All the more reason to come visit! You can do it, too!"

"I'm sure I will," Lisa said, beaming as they walked out of the Common Room for their last breakfast in the castle.

Emily had decided to pack the night before so she could sleep in as late as possible the next day. However, she was, once again, awoken by her roommates' furious giggles. She wasn't the only one. Hermione, who had just returned a couple of days ago, was also up and looked rather annoyed at being disturbed. She smiled and yawned, waving to Emily, before she got up and hobbled over to her bed stand to take her first round of Potions. Whatever that Death Eater had done to her, it was lucky she had silenced him or she would probably be dead.

"Can you, like, believe the nerve of her? She thinks that because she has blue toenails everyone will worship her…" Bridgette was saying.

"Oh, I _know!_" Prudence squealed, "It's horrid dreadful. I mean, who in their right mind would wear blue toenail polish with _those_ sandals?"

"Like, OH MY GOD! God forbid anyone _ever_ wear blue toenail polish!" Emily shrieked, making Hermione choke on her Potion.

"Oh, great, _she's_ awake," Lavender said, painting a ruby-red color on Parvati's feet.

"Not willingly. Who are you idiots insulting anyway?" asked Emily, pulling her robe on.

"Ginny Weasley," said Brittany Baker, tossing her head back annoyingly.

"Wait, wait, _Ginny Weasley?_" Emily said, looking angry suddenly.

"Yeah, it's horrible. It totally clashes with her hair," Bridgette said.

"First of all, you have got to be the biggest bitch alive to care for something like that. And second, that isn't polish, you stupid whore. It's a special formula that's keeping her ankle from re-snapping until the bone is completely healed," snarled Emily.

The other girls looked as though Emily had slapped in her in the face. After a few seconds, they moved to Prudence's bed, where they could whisper in low voices and not be heard. Emily turned away from her and heard a small squawking noise. Red Wing soared in from a night of hunting and landed on her bed, gazing curiously at her.

"Hey, Red, how are you?" asked Emily, putting her pajamas into her trunk.

There was a happy squawk in reply. He looked over her shoulder and glared at the girls, who were pointing and giggling at Emily from behind her back. He gave an angry, ear-splitting screech and soared at them. All five girls screamed and fled, running into a closet. Red Wing snorted and returned to Emily's shoulder, clipping her slightly with his wing.

"That was..." Hermione began, but she couldn't seem to find the words. She just shrugged and resumed cramming all her books into her trunk.

Emily grabbed the end and began to drag it away. She wanted to say good-bye to the others before the Hogwarts Express took them home. As she was leaving, she heard a disappointed _tut_ from one of the girls in the closet.

"That stupid bird ruined my nails!" came the wail. It was Bridgette.

"You're great, Red," Emily said, patting his small beak. The mini-eagle tried to bit her finger, and she smiled as her trunk made loud crashing noises on each stair.

Caitlin had also packed the night before, but this was so she could spend the morning with Draco. She had decided she would spend the morning with him, and ride the Hogwarts Express with Jo and Cait. She met him downstairs and they walked outside to the side of the lake. The grounds were deserted, everyone either doing last-minute packing or saying goodbye to their friends and teachers.

"Well, Caitlin, you are definitely going to visit me sometime soon. Things will be pretty boring until my father breaks out of Azkaban, so with just Mum there it's going to be terribly dull."

"Just say the word and I'll be there," Caitlin said, tossing a rock at the giant squid, which caught and threw it playfully between his six tentacles.

"You know… I just realized something," Malfoy said, "You never did answer my question last night."

"What question?" said Caitlin, looking just slightly nervous now.

"Whether or not you would consider recruiting for Death Eaters in America," Draco replied.

"Oh… well, I don't know," Caitlin said, frowning, "Who would take a sixteen year old girl seriously?"

"Ah… I see your point. Plus, your government monitors your every move, it seems," Draco agreed.

"Yes, they give us no privacy whatsoever…" Caitlin agreed.

"Well, you can always help us out on this side, just make sure to stay in school and get a job in the Ministry," he said.

"Yeah… but we need to head back inside, our train awaits us," said Caitlin.

On the train ride home, Caitlin, Jo, Cait, and Josephine got a compartment to themselves near the front. In one of the larger compartments, Matt, Emily, Rachel, and the other Ravenclaw Fifth Years sat. They were right next to Harry's compartment, and the two groups chatted for a bit before the train rolled out of Hogsmeade Station. The trip home would take a few hours, so they made themselves comfortable.

"So, what are your final plans for the summer?" asked Jo while the Slytherin girls chowed down on their food later that afternoon.

"I'm spending the entire vacation with my grandmother," said Jo, "On my mum's side, of course. She's an awesome witch, and she likes to tell bogus fortunes to Muggles for money."

"That's one way to abuse our powers," smirked Cait, "But, as for me, I'm just hanging out and doing my own thing, y'know?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go visit Draco and, of course, have all of you over at some points or another," Caitlin said.

"I can't wait until July 28th… that's when I'm going to see Necromancy Live!" Josephine said, dancing.

"What's Necromancy?" asked Caitlin.

"It's this big gathering of all these famous music groups from America, Britain, Canada, Japan, France and Germany. I think there's one from Romania and a couple Australian ones this year, too," said Josephine, looking ecstatic.

"You know all those languages?" Jo queried, looking impressed.

"No… but you don't need to understand the words. The magic is in the music, after all," Josephine replied.

"Hey… where's Draco?' asked Jo.

"Probably with Vincent and Gregory," Caitlin replied, shrugging, "I told him I'd spend time with him this morning and then we'd go with our other friends for the trip home."

"Is there going to be a heart-breaking good-bye at Platform 9 ¾?" Cait asked, "'Cause if there is, I'm going to throw myself in front of a train."

"There will be now," Caitlin said, smirking mischievously.

"Thanks I feel so loved," Cait said, rolling her eyes and throwing a chocolate frog at Caitlin (it missed and instead landed on the window, where it promptly jumped out).

A few cars back, the Ravenclaws and Emily were all talking about their plans for the weekend. Emily and Matt were both looking into classes to help them do better in their N.E.W.T. classes.

"I've heard they have courses in Elmira," Matt said to her, "The old Hoss's restaurant."

"Depends on the hours, classes, and price," Emily replied, "I'm not wasting half my summer, nor too much money. I've got other things to worry about."

"Yeah, but since I have no life, I'll take whatever they offer," replied Matt.

"You'll have a life after this summer," Blaine said, clapping Matt on the back so hard that his glasses flew off his face, "Once you play Liverpool's Tournament and go to Necromancy with us."

"You're going to, Emily, we can't have you deprived of this for two months," added Padama.

"I'll look into it," Emily said.

"I'm sure my parents will say yes," Matt added, as Rachel handed him his glasses.

"That reminds me…" said Blaine, "When are you gonna have us over to America? We want to check out your country's Muggle Education System."

"Heh… I'm sure the High School will let us obtain permission," said Matt.

"Oh, and being able to do magic on a few of them will be wonderful fun," said Emily, "Especially on that bitch, Mrs. Bobb."

"She retired," Matt said.

"Damn," Emily muttered.

"Hey… I just remembered something. Emily, where's Seth?" asked Lisa.

Emily frowned, and was silent. Matt looked suddenly worried at this uncharacteristic sign of annoyance. She seemed to debate for a minute, and finally came to a conclusion: tell it all.

"He's… not going to be with us anymore," said Emily, "I think he's gone over to the Dark Side…"

"No… Seth?" Matt gasped, looking shocked.

"He may not have been my last choice, but… I thought he was good," said Terry.

"Yes. His father was a Death Eater, and has already returned to Voldemort. Seth just disappeared. His mother and sister are in hiding," Emily explained.

"That's horrible," Rachel said, eyes wide.

"Yes… Seth seemed so nice. He never caused trouble and only fought back when push came to shove," Melody added.

"I don't care anymore," Emily said, rather forcefully, "Let him do what he wants. I won't let him get away with it, though."

"Good. You shouldn't let him," said Padama.

"Who wants to play Exploding Poker?" Jack asked, taking a deck of cards from inside his bag.

Within ten minutes, Matt had been hit in the face with ten explosions, Emily had won eight galleons, four sickles, and twelve Knuts, and Cyclone and Red Wing had eaten part of their Every Flavor Beans stash.

The train arrived at King's Cross at about four. Emily and Matt collected their trunks and bags and placed them on their baggage trolleys, and stood at the gateway, waiting for Caitlin so they could go to the airport together.

However… Caitlin and her friends were having a hard time turning Malfoy back into a human. With the help of the lunch cart lady, they had Draco, Gregory, and Vincent back to normal and as angry and embarrassed as ever.

"It was Potter and some Hufflepuffs. They snuck up on us and attacked us," Draco said as Caitlin led him off the train, their stuff being carried by Crabbe and Goyle.

"It's okay, Dracie… I'm sure you'll be able to destroy him when the time comes," said Caitlin, waving good-bye to Jo (who was walking away with her father, mother, and two brothers).

"Before you go, you need to meet my mum," said Draco, steering her through the crowd.

"Alright…" said Caitlin.

"Mum!" Draco called.

"Ah… Draco, welcome back. I've missed you so much, it's been terribly dull," said Mrs. Malfoy, kissing her son on the cheek. Draco looked extremely embarrassed, and Caitlin's smirk didn't make it any easier.

"Mum, this is Caitlin, the girl I've been telling you about," Draco said.

"Pleasure to meet you, Caitlin. Draco thinks very highly of you, you know," said Mrs. Malfoy, shaking her hand.

"The same to you. How are you?" Caitlin said.

"As of now, I'm extremely bored. But, I'm going to be less bored now that Draco is home. Have you ever tried talking to a half-psychotic house elf who doesn't realize his beloved mistress is dead?"

"Can't say that I have," Caitlin said, stealing a glance with Draco.

"Yes, well, I will allow you to head off now. You must come visit sometime this summer, I'm dying to hear of your experiences at home," said Mrs. Malfoy.

"Will do, ma'am," said Caitlin, hugging and kissing Draco for the last time, and saying her good-byes.

"Finally. What took you so long?" Emily said as Caitlin joined them on the other side of the barrier.

"Sorry for saying good-bye to my friends," Caitlin said, blushing slightly.

"Matt!" called Lisa from across the platform. She was standing next to two people: an elderly lady with a straw hat and a flower basket on her arm, and a younger version of her, wearing a crisp dress suit and holding a couple books under her arm. Emily and Caitlin said they'd meet Matt at the bus stop and walked away.

"Come meet my grandma and mother," Lisa said, dragging Matt forward.

"Hello, dear," said the older lady, smiling benignly.

"Hello, Miss Turpin, how are you?" Matt asked.

"I'm rather well, actually. Glad to have Lisa home," said the grandmother, smiling.

"Yes, because now she can help me with all my Lab Practices," said her mother, shooting a stern look to her daughter.

"Now, Jeane!" said Miss Turpin, "It's her vacation, let her spend it the way she wants."

"Yeah, Mum, I just got down with O.W.L.s and my brain is still numb," Lisa added.

"Oh, did Lisa ever tell you? Her mother is one of the most renown scientists in England," said Miss Turpin, pride showing in all her face for her daughter's accomplishments.

"Really? That's wonderful! What kinds of stuff do you research?" Matt asked, while Jean Turpin also swelled with pride.

"Anything I can get my hands on: diseases, animals, mysteries, theories… you name it, I'll study it," said Lisa's mother very quickly.

"Yeah, well Grandma is getting a job in St. Mungo's in the geriatric ward," Lisa added.

"Yes, that I am. I'm sick of just planting and cooking all year long, especially since Lisa is at school all year long and there's no one else to give it to. Jeane refuses to eat the snacks, something about… oh, what was it now…" Miss Turpin said, looking thoughtful.

"In simple terms, it clogs up your arteries and causes obesity. The exercise one would have to get from one batch of your cookies would total about an hour of any type of strenuous activity. I'm not saying your cookies aren't delicious, because they most certainly are, but… well, they just aren't the healthiest thing on earth."

"Mum… I don't think Matt wants to hear about artery clogging when he has a flight to catch in about ninety minutes…" said Lisa.

"Oh, dear, you really should go. We must have you over sometime this summer," said Miss Turpin, "I'll make a special batch of cookies when you come over."

"Yeah, and there's a few people that live by me that would love to meet you. The good Martine family and the Hackers are within a mile of our little house," said Lisa.

"Okay, I'll be sure to fly over in a couple weeks, but I gotta go. Love ya, Lisa," Matt said, embracing her.

"Yes, and Rachel doesn't live far away either… she's right in town," Lisa added, kissing Matt on the cheek, "Now go, British Airways waits for no one."

"Amen to that," said Matt, smiling and rushing off to meet his friends.

"Wow, and I thought _I_ took a long time," Caitlin said when they took seats on the top floor of the double-decker bus that was to take them to London Heathrow Airport.

"Yeah, well, I'm very outgoing. Did the birds leave yet?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, Red Wing and Raven flew off a while ago, Cyclone hitching a ride in Red's claw," said Emily.

"Cool…" Matt said, sitting for the ride to Heathrow. After they had finally checked in (having some rather strange questions from security into the cauldrons and wands, to which they convinced the security people that they were getting stuff early for a Halloween party next year), they sat at their Gate in the Terminal.

"Let's re-cap," said Matt, "This year alone… I managed to somehow get two girlfriends…"

"I got a boyfriend who is soon to be a Death Eater…" Caitlin added.

"I found out one of my friends is probably going to come back and kill me…" Emily said flatly.

"We took our O.W.L.s after just one year of schooling… and did okay…" Matt muttered.

"We took on a dozen dark wizards and won…" Emily said.

"Made friends with people all over England…" Caitlin summed up.

"And now we're going back home to our Muggle friends after a year's absence," Matt said.

"I wonder who will believe us when we say we've got magic powers?" Caitlin said, thoughtfully.

"Good question. I, however, am more interested in Brittney Petry and Dustin VanDyke's reactions," Matt said, smirking.

"Yeah, Brittney will be like, 'YOU CAN'T DO MAGIC! IT'S THE DEVIL'S GAME AND GOD NEVER MEANT FOR HUMANS TO DO MAGIC!'" Emily said, making Matt laugh.

"As will Dustin," pointed out Caitlin.

"No, when he finds out I can actually injure him when he makes snide comments about me or pisses me off in another way," said Matt, "I get the feeling we're going to have more friends than we've had before."

"Not really. Only if we get everyone in the school to sign the form that says we can do magic in front of them," Emily said, "I'm only doing it to a few people."

"Yeah, same here. This summer is gonna rock," said Caitlin.

"_British Airways, Flight 113, now boarding at gate 13_."

"That's our flight," Matt said, picking up his travel bag which included all his exam papers and a few books.

"Back to America," Emily said, glumly.

"See you in a while, England," Caitlin said as they walked onto the jet way of the 747.

"Yes," Matt said as they stepped aboard, "See you when we go back to Hogwarts."

5/30 – 8:26 P. M.

**Author's Note: Thanks for having the patience to deal with my disorganization. I know it's rather horrible, but this was my first 314 page novel… cut me some slack! **

**Kidding. Actually, critique to your heart's content. Soon as Deathly Hallows comes out, expect to see a third and final Hogwarts Fanfiction from me. Until then, stayed tune for Back to Hogwarts: Summer Special and Return to Hogwarts: Summer Special, both of which bridge the gaps between their respective fanfics and the ones after it.**


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